THODS OF TEACHING 
'OCATIONAL AGRICULTURE 



SAMUEL H.DADISMAN 



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CQEOUCHT OJEPOSm 




SENATOR HOKE SMITH 



METHODS OF TEACHING 
VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE 

IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



BY^^"^ 



SAMUEL HrDADISMAN 

Supervisor of Teacher Training Classes, University 
of California^ Berkeley, California 




BOSTON 
RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 



Copyright, 1921, by Richard G. Badger 



AH Rights Reserved 

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S)CI,A6277a5 



NOV 10 1921 

Made in the United States of America 



The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 



:f FOREWORD 

^ The Federal Law providing national aid for the promo- 
tion of vocational education is justifying the expectations 
of its friends, especially as it applies to agricultural educa- 
tion. Prior to the Smith-Hughes enactment, agriculture 
was slowly but surely finding its way into the curricula of 
the secondary schools of this country, notwithstanding the 
handicap of being treated most often like the other subjects, 
i.e., taught for informational purposes and its cultural 
value, rather than for vocational efficiency and only now and 
then being correlated with the activities of the community. 
High school agriculture has also suffered from the minis- 
trations of inefficient or poorly prepared teachers. Because 
of the newness of the subject, the teaching standards were 
not so high as were those for teachers of other high school 
subjects. Not infrequently one could find an agricultural 
teacher giving instruction in three, four, and even five other 
lines of work and instances are known where the teachers 
in a high school were called together just before the term 
opened and required to draw lots to determine who would 
teach agriculture during the year. 

The financial aid made available by the Federal Act has 
brought about not only a rapid increase in the number of 
agricultural departments in the high schools throughout the 
country, but it has for the first time in a majority of the 
states resulted in definite minimum standards being set for 
the work and higher qualifications being demanded in the 
preparation of the teacher. 

The definite vocational standards established by the Smith- 

3 



4 Foreword 

Hughes Act are bringing about a very desirable degree of 
uniformity in the contents of the courses of study as well 
as in the methods of teaching agriculture throughout the 
country and the project and problems methods, first defin- 
itely worked out in the vocational agricultural courses in 
Massachusetts, are now being adopted in every state and 
are being applied to many subjects other than agriculture. 

Another result of national aid is to be seen in the number 
and the rapid development of the agricultural teacher train- 
ing departments in the various states and in the increasing 
number of hours or units of work being required in Educa- 
tion and Agricultural Education of those preparing to 
teach agriculture in the secondary schools. It is now real- 
ized, perhaps better than ever before, that the success or 
failure of agriculture in the high school depends largely 
upon the teaching ability and personality of the teacher. 
Greater responsibility is therefore placed on the teacher 
training departments. They should eliminate any student 
whose lack of personality or any other defect is likely to 
prove a handicap to a successful teaching career and they 
must endeavor to attract to their departments those out- 
standing students whose high scholarship and leadership 
ability give evidence of future teaching success. 

The time will never come, we hope, when teacher trainers 
in the various states will have to follow uniform and cut- 
and-dried methods in preparing college students for the 
teaching profession. There will always be those exceptional 
teachers whose personality is the inspiration of their stu- 
dents and who need not depend upon more or less stereotyped 
subject matter and methods in training teachers. Most of 
us, however, feel the need of outlines and textbooks that will 
aid us in the daily routine of teacher training. The few 
texts that have appeared, thus far, excellent as they may 
be, deal with the methods and subject matter employed 



Foreword B 

before the advent of the Smith-Hughes Law. There is a 
new conception of the function of agriculture in the second- 
ary school abroad in the land and our aim is vocational 
efficiency instead of the simple imparting of information. 

This textbook by Professor Dadisman should be a wel- 
come addition to the work-table of every teacher trainer, 
prospective teacher, and teacher in service for it has been 
evolved out of the very successful experiences of the author 
in preparing young men to teach agriculture according to 
the provisions of the state and national vocational education 
acts. 

Professor Dadisman was probably the first teacher trainer 
in this country to utilize the project method in the training 
of agricultural teachers and his three years' experience in 
this particular field at the University Farm, Davis, Cali- 
fornia, has won for him well deserved recognition and praise. 

F. L. Griffin, 
Berkeley, California. Head of Division of 

August 1, 1921. Agricvltwral Education, 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I The Development of Agricultural Education 15 

II Developing the Present Day Agriculture . 23 

III Influence of Agricultural Legislation , . 27 

IV How THE Smith-Hughes Bill Operates . . 35 

V The Home Project 42 

VI Planning the Lesson and Lesson Plans . . 51 

VII The Field and Laboratory Work . • . . 71 

VIII First Year Agriculture . . . . o . . 76 

IX Second Year Agriculture 86 

X Third Year Agriculture ...••• 91 

XI Fourth Year Agriculture 98 

XII The Farm Mechanics Courses 104 

XIII Cooperative Rural Organizations . . . .110 

XIV The Teacher of Agriculture 120 

XV The Future of Agricultural Education . .130 

Index . 139 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Senator Hoke Smith Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

The Old School Building 26 

The Rural Consolidated School Building at Rollo, 

Illinois 26 

Marketing His Project Cabbage, Huntington Beach, 

Calif 27 

I AM A Smith-Hughes Pig. I am Not 27 

Self-Feeders for Hogs. Lodi, California .... 50 

Weighing the Project Pig. Salinas, California . 50 

Pruning an Orchard. Kingsbury, California . . 50 

Scoring a Pure-Bred Horse 51 

Judging Hogs. Kingsbury, California ..... 51 

A Ten-Acre Clover Project. Rollo, Illinois . . 80 

Starting a Poultry Project in a California High 

School 81 

A Pruning Demonstration. San Juan Union High 

School, California 81 

A Project Hog. Lodi, California 98 

A Grape Project. Lodi, California 98 

Mixing Concrete. Kingsbury, California .... 99 

Studying the Plow. Kingsbury, California ... 99 

The Road When the County Farm Advisor First Came. 

In Tennessee 112 

The Same Road After a Year of Cooperation . . . 112 

A Community Play 113 

An Attractive Home . . . . . . ... .113 

9 



10 List of Illustrations 

FACING PAGE 

An Onion Project. Teachers' Training Class, Davis, 

California 126 

Teachers' Training Class Studying the Tractor. 
Davis, California 126 

Band of Agricultural Pupils. Lodi, California . . 127 

Summer School Class at Davis, California .... 127 

Teachers' Home in a Rural Community. Rollo, 
Illinois 132 

Early Training in Live Stock Production .... 132 

First Prize 133 

Luther Burbank Showing C. L. Hampton His Plant 
Garden . . . . .... . . . . '. 133 



PREFACE 

This book is the outgrowth of four years* experience in 
supervising classes for teachers of vocational agriculture. 
It is intended to be used as a text in training teachers and 
as a reference for those interested in better methods of 
teaching vocational subjects. It has been written to aid 
in developing better methods of presenting vocational agri- 
culture. This book is not based upon theory alone, but upon 
processes through which the applications of these principles 
find their expression in class room and laboratory. Enough 
history of agricultural education is presented to give the 
teacher a fundamental understanding of the struggle that 
agriculture has undergone in finding its place in the curricu- 
lum of our public schools. The Smith-Hughes Act and state 
plans are presented as a background for the method of pre- 
sentation. Other state plans are based upon the same gen- 
eral principles; namely, the project method and making the 
work less than college grade and suitable for those who 
expect to enter the farming profession. 

The time has come when young men and women should 
learn in school how to maintain and improve the fertility 
of the soil, how to increase the yield of our economic plants, 
and how to raise domesticated animals on a more economical 
basis. They should also learn to meet market problems 
which are going to be a great factor with the future agricul- 
turalists. The needs of country life will be satisfied only 
through cooperation and organization in developing a per- 
manent agriculture. The future teacher of vocational agri- 
culture must be trained to keep abreast of the improvements 

11 



12 Preface 

in farm machinery and farm power. The social needs of 
farm life and the farm home should also be provided for 
through the schools. To aid in preparing teachers to satisfy 
these needs is the purpose of this book. 

It has been said that the boys of to-day will be the men 
of to-morrow. It may as well be said that the school boys 
doing their project work will be the scientific farmers of 
the future. It is not the function of the school to attempt 
to show the specialist how to improve upon his work, but it 
is the function of the school to teach the average farm boy 
the scientific principles underlying the field of agriculture; 
to teach him the fundamentals of the supplemental subjects 
that he will need in his every day activities; to teach him 
to do the practical work; to teach him to keep business 
records of his enterprises ; and to give him the training and 
desire to be a leader in the community. 

The project method above all other methods so far tried 
out in teaching vocational agriculture, when properly pre- 
sented, develops greater interest and more initiative. It 
gives the pupil "stick-to-it-ive-ness" to carry his undertak- 
ings to completion. It provides a basis for reasoning and 
offers adequate opportunity for direct thinking to a logical 
conclusion. 

When the student teacher has been trained through proper 
methods of presentation to feel the real need of a thorough 
training in science and agriculture and to fully understand 
and appreciate the value of carefully planning and properly 
presenting his lessons, he will be better prepared to visualize 
his subject and make his work more worth while to the com- 
munity. 

August 1, 1921. ^- ^- ^- 



METHODS OF TEACHING 
VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE 




AN BPrECTIVE TRADE MARK 



METHODS OF TEACHING 
VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE 

CHAPTER I 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICUI.TUEA1, EDUCATION 

Agricultural education is not a new thought. It had its 
beginning in the dim ages of the unwritten past. Agricul- 
ture was first carried on by slaves who were given instruc- 
tion by their masters. The first definite reference given to 
this subject was in 1015 B.C., when King Solomon had his 
extensive gardens. These gardens were undoubtedly used 
for instructional purposes, as well as for adornment. The 
first school gardens in Persia were for the purpose of train- 
ing the sons of the noblemen to instruct the slaves. These 
gardens were laid out by King Cyrus, 589-529 B.C., and the 
schools in connection with them were probably among the 
first to give a definite course in agriculture. 

The Chinese Civil Service Examination included agricul- 
ture as early as 150 B.C. The superstition in early agri- 
culture is shown by the fact that the Chinese buried hogs 
with the dead in order that they might have meat to eat on 
their road traveling to the next world. We find Aristotle 
writing about the value of agriculture from 82-22 B.C. He 
felt the need of impressing agricultural training upon the 
common people. Plato in his writing discussed the soil in 
its relation to agriculture. He also felt that the common 

A brief study of agricultural education is made in order to develop 
a background for its methods of presentation, 

15 



16 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agrictiltwre 

people should Know more about the soil in order to raise 
better crops. 

From the beginning of the Christian era until the nine- 
teenth century, the schools devoted but little time to teach- 
ing agriculture. During this period instruction was largely 
based upon religion and superstition. There is a legend 
that King Alfred planted school gardens so that boys could 
have agricultural training. This is mentioned as the be- 
ginning of Oxford University. Thus agricultural educa- 
tion had its beginning in forestry and gardening. 

In many of the European universities, gardens were prob- 
ably used for instructional purposes. The first Italian, 
school garden was laid out by a wealthy nobleman in the 
year 1525. This movement was soon followed by Italians 
in Venice and Naples. That Italians are good gardeners 
can be traced back to the fact that much emphasis was 
placed on the school garden in the early part of the six- 
teenth century. About the end of the sixteenth century, 
there was established in Paris a botanical garden which was 
designed to meet the floral needs of the court. This garden! 
was undoubtedly used for instructional purposes as well as 
for adornment. The training in the flower gardens has had 
its artistic eff*ect upon the development of the French people. 

The Jesuits in 1534 argued that learning should have 
some relation to living things and that material for educa- 
tion should not be drawn from books alone, but from the 
external world — from the heavens, from the trees, and evert 
from the usual occupations of men. The Jesuits seem to 
have had the idea that those who tilled the soil should re- 
ceive some instruction that would aid them in their future 
agricultural pursuits. Comenius advocated the study of 
agriculture in 1560. He wanted a garden for every school 
where the children at times could gaze on the trees and 
herbs and be taught to enjoy them. No definite references 



The Development of Agricvlfural Education IT 

are given to where Comenius advocated the school children 
actually doing the work. He did, however, want them to 
study nature and about all living things. 

Milton in his wide curriculum advocated the study of 
agriculture because it contained easy reading matter and 
enabled the students thereafter to improve tillage and to 
recover bad soil and wasted land. Hungary was teaching 
agriculture as early as 1630. 

One of the first publications in agriculture in London was, 
An Essay for the Advancement of Husbandry Learning, 
written by Samuel Hartlib in 1651. His idea was to take 
the pupils as apprentices. He proposed to have four pro- 
fessors ; one to be sent to Asia, one to Europe, one to Africa, 
and one to America to make a study of conditions and use 
the material that should prove helpful to them. The great 
University of HaUe began teaching agriculture to farm folk 
in 1695. Its first teacher, Franke, said that he was much 
interested in the poor and farm folk. His first courses of 
study of agriculture were published about the end of the 
sixteenth century. The Hungary University of Science at 
Buda established a chair of agriculture and experimental 
grounds in 1777. Rousseau pointed out the importance of 
garden work as an educational factor. He would actually 
have the children do the garden work in connection with the 
school. Much emphasis has been placed upon Rousseau's 
methods of instruction in agriculture. It was about this 
time that Salzman rightly said, "School gardens have been 
laid out neither to draw the attention of passers-by nor to 
give great returns, but to instruct.'^ A Swiss educator, 
Fellenberg, took great interest in the peasantry of his coun- 
try and established a school, the object of which was to traini 
definitely for a trade or occupation. Agriculture was the 
basis for his instruction and it is probable that Fellenberg 
used the apprentice method. Jethro TulPs Horse-Hoeing 



18 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agricvltwre 

Hushamdry, written 1751, was the basis for instruction in 
many schools. 

As early as 1761 the National Society of Agriculture in 
France advocated the appointment of agricultural profes- 
sors to arouse and enlighten public opinion with reference 
to agricultural affairs. This resulted in the establishment 
of a school of agriculture as early as 1763. However, agri- 
culture was not placed on the program of the French schools 
until 1882, when instruction in agriculture was organized in 
primary, normal, and superior schools of the country. 

The work of Thaer marks a new epoch in the history of 
German agriculture. He applied science and sound business 
methods so successfully on his own farm that farmers from 
all over the continent came to visit it. His instruction was 
given so well to hffe visitors that they soon began to teach 
his principles of agriculture in other places. Even Pesta- 
lozzi opened a school in Switzerland for instruction com- 
bined with labor in the fields. His students devoted their 
mornings to study and their afternoons to farming. He said 
that he wished to make his estate the central point of agri- 
cultural and educational efforts. Froebel, the founder of 
the kindergarten, recommended light gardening as one of its 
occupations and advocated the children actually doing part 
of the work. The Royal College of Denmark was not opened 
until 1773, but still her work in agricultural education ex- 
celled that of the United States until recently. 

The first farm school established in Canada in 1868 was 
the beginning of agricultural education in that country. At 
this date Lesser Seminary was established and it was here 
that the children of artisans and peasants were taught farm- 
ing and the various mechanical arts. As was also the custom 
in England, the pupils were grounded in the customs of the 
church. As early as 1836 we find a bill passed in the upper 
legislative assembly, which authorized the trustees of any 



The Development of Agricultural Education 19 

school district to collect money for leasing or purchasing 
land, farm utensils, seeds, grains, and grasses for the use 
of the school teachers. It laid emphasis on growing vege- 
tables, fruits, grains, and grasses. A normal school was 
established at Toronto in 1847 in which agriculture was 
given a permanent place. Daily classes were conducted in 
agricultural chemistry, demonstration plots were laid out, 
and practical field demonstrations were conducted. The 
Governor General in 1849 offered two prizes of the value 
of twenty-five dollars to each of the two persons who passed 
the best examination in agricultural chemistry. The first 
agricultural reader for the use of schools in Canada was 
published by John Stimson of Niagara Falls in 1846. Ryer- 
son published his First Lessons in Agriculture in 1870. MilFs 
Public School Agriculture soon followed. The latter was 
the first authorized textbook used in the public schools of 
Ontario, as well as the first to receive recognition as aii 
agricultural text in America. In 1874 the first agricultural 
college in Canada was established in the province of Ontario 
and the first summer school for teachers of agriculture was 
held there in 1893. Agriculture was made compulsory iii 
their rural schools as early as 1899. 

The first authentic account of agricultural instruction 
in the United States was in 1671 when William Smith de- 
signed a model school for colleges. His plan was to teach the 
chemistry of agriculture, which was partly put into practice 
in the University of Pennsylvania. We find that in 1671 
Governor Berkeley of Virginia said, "I thank God there are 
no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have 
these for three hundred years, for learning has brought 
disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and 
printing has divulged them and libels against the best gov- 
ernment ; God keep us from both."^ 
* Dexter — History of Education in the United States, p. 10. 



20 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

Benjamin Franklin was one of the early advocators of 
agricultural education. In his proposal relating to educa- 
tion of the youth of Pennsylvania, he said, "The youth 
should learn those things that are most useful in the several 
professions for which they are intended." He advocated 
gardens, meadows, and fields in connection with the schools, 
so that there might be accompanied with them practical 
exercises in agriculture and excursions to the neighboring 
plantations and to the best farms to observe their methods 
for the purpose of giving an opportunity to improve agri- 
culture. "This subject is useful to all and not detrimental 
to any." We find that the Philadelphia Society for the 
Promotion of Agriculture in 1794 outlined a plan of com- 
munity agriculture for the citizens of the State. Part of 
the plan was to create county societies with the country 
school masters as secretaries and the school houses as their 
meeting places. The societies also proposed to introduce 
agricultural books into the schools. 

In Kings College, now Columbia University, husbandry 
and commerce were included in the curriculum in 1754. 
Agriculture was adopted by the Governor in the Laws and 
Orders the following year. 

One of the first purely agricultural schools in the United 
States was founded in 1797 at Letham, South Carolina, by 
John D. Lahows. He left an endowment of a farm of six 
hundred acres of land, one hundred of which was to be in 
forest. The purpose of this endowment was for the educa- 
tion, boarding, and clothing of twelve poor boys and twelve 
poor girls of the district. 

The first purely agricultural, industrial, and technical 
college was founded in 1821 at Gardener, Maine. The State 
Legislature granted a thousand dollars, which was probably 
the first state grant made in the United States for this 
purpose. A boarding house was established at which the 



The Development of Agricultural Education 21 

students could secure board and washing for $1.25 per week 
and a room with a chair, table, and a cot for $0.25 per 
week. 

One of the very best examples of early agricultural 
education in the United States was in New Harmony, In- 
diana, in 1824. It was here that William McClure had the 
Pestalozzi methods of teaching put into practice. In spite 
of the expensive equipment ; dormitory, books, museum, 
shops, experimental plots, etc., religious strife and intoler- 
ance interfered with the experiment. 

George Washington Gale established a manual labor in- 
stitute in Oneida, New York, in 1827. His curriculum in- 
cluded practice, both in carpentry and agriculture. This 
retired minister took a number of boys from a farm and 
gave them practical instruction. He later founded Knox 
College at Galesburg, Illinois. 

The first textbook in agriculture in the United States 
for use in the schools was the Agriculture Reader by Daniel 
Evans, published in 1824. 

We find many sporadic attempts to get agriculture estab- 
lished in our schools during the last century. The farm 
school at Boston is one of the few that succeeded. Instruc- 
tion was given in agriculture in this school in 1883, and has 
been taught there for thirty-seven years. From the many 
attempts during the last century to introduce this subject 
into the schools, no definite system of instruction has yet 
been established. From these early attempts to 1862 was 
the period of introducing agriculture into the academies. 
From all the schools mentioned, the Boston Farm School 
was the most important factor in the development of in- 
dustrial education in that part of the United States. 

The Michigan State Agricultural College was founded 
in 1857 and included six hundred and seventy-six acres of 
heavily timbered land. The Maryland Agricultural College 



22 Methods of Teaching Vocatioiml Agriculture 

began instruction in 1859, and it was conducted for three 
years as a private institution. However, the college did 
accept the land grant fund in 186S, but did not become a 
wholly state institution until 1914. The Kansas Agricul- 
tural College likewise had its origin as a sectarian institu- 
tion. The New York State College of Agriculture had a 
separate department of agriculture as early as 1860. 

The early attempts at instruction opened the way to 
establish agricultural instruction in the schools of the United 
States, which began on a permanent basis by Federal aid 
in the form of the land grants. 



CHAPTER II 

DEVELOPING THE PRESENT DAY AGRICULTUEE 

In planning the courses of study it is worth noting how 
the present system of agriculture has been developed. Men- 
tion has already been made of the introduction of it in the 
high school. The introduction in the grammar schools be- 
gan in the form of nature study. They had been observing 
the robin for its beauty instead of as a destroyer of insects. 
More than two dozen elementary agricultural textbooks 
appeared, each expressing the individuality of its author, 
which depended upon his preparation and vision of the type 
of work. This is the reason we have had no definite course 
of study until recently. Secondary agriculture, varying iri 
content of course and method of presenting, has been intro- 
duced into the following types of schools: — township con- 
solidated as in Illinois; county agricultural schools as iri 
Tennessee; Congressional district agricultural schools as in 
Arkansas ; judicial district schools as in Oklahoma ; union 
district schools as in California; junior high schools as in 
Vermont; and special agricultural schools of a secondary 
nature in connection with the state university as in Minne- 
sota. 

Many of the first courses in secondary schools were of a 
general nature following Dr. Warren's Elements of Agri- 
culture. Other books soon followed. Then came the state 
courses as that of Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Texas with 
outlines for a four year course in agriculture. A survey 
made by the author in 1917 showed that the first year's work 

23 



24 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

in the various states was called by nineteen different names. 
This clearly demonstrated the need of uniformity in nomen- 
clature and content. However, according to the United 
States Bureau of Education there were only nineteen 
schools teaching agriculture in 1901, while in 1916 there 
were 2,175 schools teaching agriculture. Only 586 were 
teaching it with a vocational aim. Of the 41,074 pupils 
enrolled in the classes, 16,331 were girls. 

During the reconstruction period after the Civil War, 
there was a great unrest from the course of study then in 
operation. Many of the leading educators believed that 
there was a need for a course in the high school which should 
function in the bread and butter aim of life for a large 
number of the pupils. Out of this unrest grew a course 
aimed to select from the science courses things that the pupil 
should know. Many began with the chemical elements that 
were foreign to the pupils. Others began with so much 
physics, zoology, or botany depending upon the teacher's 
preparation. Many textbooks soon appeared covering such 
courses. The method of presentation was also similar to 
that of the teacher's college experience. This method of 
presentation by specialists of so much of their particular 
subject, regardless of its application to the present or future 
usefulness of the pupils, caused the course to become un- 
popular. Another class of teachers started out to use ex- 
pensive apparatus for this course and thereby caused its 
elimination in many schools which could not afford expensive 
equipment. 

This course needed unification in order to give the pupil 
something worth while for future usefulness. Since the 
population of the world is directly dependent upon the 
products of agriculture, it seemed to be the logical core 
around which the material should be centered. 

The general conception of the reorganized course was thali 



Developing the Present Day Agriculture 25 

to be worth while, it must fit into the child's needs at the 
time it is given. It must be something that will create an 
interest in the subject ; something that applies to the child's 
daily work ; something that he can contribute to as the work 
progresses. It must reach out into the field of biological, 
physiological, and other sciences which will illuminate the 
subject at hand with the proper methods of presentation. 

This course has finally taken one of two directions. In 
some schools it has drifted into the purely science, or rather 
never been separated from it and is called general science, 
taught by the purely science teacher where agriculture is 
mentioned only incidentally. In other schools the course is 
called agricultural science and in many schools it is called 
general agriculture, where the sciences are used as the serv- 
ants to illuminate the subject under consideration. In many 
of the up-to-date schools of the United States, this course 
is being taught in the eighth grade, paving the way for real 
agriculture in the high school. Gardens on the school 
ground were often found valuable in connection with this 
course. 

The school farm has been one of the problems of the 
high school teacher. There has always been a variation in 
size of the school farm, from that of a small plot to ten 
acres. In 1917 the high school farms in California varied 
from a demonstration plot to twenty-seven acres, averaging 
two and three-fourths acres. The average size has been 
greatly reduced since that time. Many have no land on 
the school grounds for agricultural purposes. The school 
farms have been used as demonstrational, model and experi- 
mental farms. They are now being used in most places only 
for outdoor laboratory purposes. In some places where 
the pupil has not land at home or is boarding, the school 
farm is successfully used for project work. A few schools 
are still using it for plant propagation purposes. The 



26 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

proper size for the school farm seems to be only as large 
as can be utilized for strictly educational purposes. 

By having the pupils actually do the work, came the 
idea of vocational agriculture, which means gaining knowl- 
edge necessary for successful farming. It has for its pur- 
pose the training of the youth so that he may be better 
prepared for scientific farming in a rural community and 
to give him the skill necessary in plant and animal produc- 
tion. Massachusetts in 1908 was the first state to recognize 
the vocational aim. This idea was soon followed by New 
York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc. 

The great desire of many of the parents has been for the 
school to train their sons and daughters for better positions 
in the trades and industries. The examples of good work 
being done in vocational agriculture, paved the way for the 
vocational act. Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia with others 
fostered the Smith-Hughes Bill and later the Smith-Sears 
Bill. The Smith-Lever Bill has done much to unify this 
work with a vocational trend. 

When the agricultural courses in the schools are properly 
planned and are carefully carried out, they will be the most 
economical features in determining the future of the agri- 
cultural industries of the United States. 

Before working out the contents of any course of study, 
one should have pretty clearly in mind the type of pupils 
he is going to teach, the material he is going to present and 
the best methods of presenting it. This is now being made 
possible since the Smith-Hughes Bill provides sufficient funds 
for the training of agricultural teachers. 




THE OLD SCHOOL BUILDING 




THE RURAL CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL BUILDING AT ROLLO, ILLINOIS 

(The author was the first president) 




MARKETING HIS PROJECT CABBAGE 

Huntington Beach, California 




I AM A SMITH-HUGHES PIG 



I AM NOT 



CHAPTER III 

INFLUENCE OF AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION 

The greatest factor in fostering a definite system of 
agricultural education has been the government aid. The 
Patent Office was made a separate bureau in 1836 with 
H. L. Ellsworth, a practical fanner as its first commis- 
sioner. One of his duties was the distribution of seeds and 
plants, which was made through the members of Congress 
in franked envelopes. This method of distribution still con- 
tinues. While a few yearly appropriations were made for 
this purpose, the first separate appropriation was made in 
1854, when the sum of $35,000 was voted. 

The Morrill Land Grant Act^ of 1862 granted to each 
state 30,000 acres of public land for each senator and repre- 
sentor in Congress to which the states were entitled by the 
apportionment in the census of 1860. All money derived 
from these lands was to be invested in securities bearing not 
less than 5 per cent interest. The state legislature might 
authorize a sum of not more than 10 per cent of the capital 
for the purpose of purchasing sites for colleges and experi- 
mental farms. All interest was to be used for the main- 
tenance of at least one college, where the leading object 
should be to teach such branches of learning as related to 
agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote a 
liberal and broad education of industrial classes in the sev- 
eral pursuits and professions of life. 

The states that had public land within their borders could 

* Bui 1918, No. 13, Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Education. 

27 



28 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriczdture 

locate and take up the actual acres, but if the state had no 
lands within its borders subject to entry, land script was 
issued instead. The script had to be sold and the individual 
purchaser might locate land in any state that had public 
land subject to this entry. 

Various states managed their lands in different ways. 
Some as Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, and Maine sold 
their land at 50 cents per acre. Others as Florida, Connecti- 
cut, Delaware, Iowa, and Massachusetts sold their land for 
from less than $1.00 to not more than $5.00 per acre. North 
Dakota and some other states sold their lands for not less 
than $10.00 per acre. The states making the best use of 
their lands were New York, California, and North Dakota; 
while Rhode Island made the poorest use. In many cases the 
lands were rented and sold later. The income from such 
lands was used for the support of the agricultural and 
mechanic arts colleges. Only Kentucky, South Carolina, and 
Virginia divided the income between institutions for negroes 
and white people. Missouri divided her funds between two 
colleges. Nineteen states have independent colleges of agri- 
culture and mechanic arts, while at the same time they main- 
tain colleges and state universities. In twenty-six states the 
college of agriculture is part of the university. Seven states 
do not have state universities. 

The Hatch or Experimental Station Act of 1887 pro- 
vided for an appropriation of $15,000 made to each state 
for the purpose of conducting experimental and research 
work. This was the first government station act. However, 
the first experiment station supported by state aid was in 
Connecticut in 1875. 

The Second Morrill Act passed in 1890 provided $15,000 
annually for each state with an additional increase of 
$1,000 per year until the fund should reach $25,000. This 
fund was to be used only for instruction in agriculture and 



Infl'aence of Agricultural Legislation 29 

mechanic arts, the English language, and the various 
branches of mathematics, physics, natural economic sciences 
with a preparation for such instruction. 

The Adams Act passed in 1906 made provision for addi- 
tional aid to be used for research. The $5,000 annual ap- 
propriation for each state, was to be increased until the sum 
of $30,000 is reached. 

The Smith-Lever Act passed 1914 was for the purpose of 
encouraging agricultural extension work. This bill provided 
for $10,000 annually to each state. The act makes provi- 
sion for additional money, based upon the rural population. 
The states must duplicate the appropriation granted by the 
government. The act provides for cooperative agricultural 
extension work. Instruction is to be given under this act only 
to persons not attending college. Part of this fund is used 
in the various states for the agricultural clubs, which are for 
demonstrational purposes. 

Not any of the money is to be used for the purchase, erec- 
tion, or repair of buildings, or the purchase or rental of 
land, or in college courses promoting agricultural trains; 
and not more than 5 per cent of the annual appropriation 
shall be used for the printing or distribution of publications. 
Part of the Farm Advisor's expenses is to be paid from the 
Smith-Lever funds. 

"The Smith-Sears Act^ passed in June, 1918, provides for 
the rehabilitation and return to civil employment of disabled 
persons discharged from the military or naval forces of the 
United States." 

It delegates to the Federal Board for Vocational Educa- 
tion the duty of re-educating the disabled persons in more 
useful employment which the Board shall deem them cap- 
able of following with profit. While the disabled persons 
are taking the special courses, compensation is being allowed 

*Thc Smith-Sears BUI. 



30 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

them and family allowance is being paid their families pre- 
cisely as if they were still in active service. The total appro- 
priation for this work is $2,000,000. When the course has 
been completed, agencies are ready to assist the re-educated 
persons to obtain positions in civil life. 

The Smith-Hughes Bill signed February 23, 1917 marks 
another great epoch in the vocational education movement 
in the United States. It has two distinct functions, namely, 
to train for vocational agriculture, trades and industries, 
and home economics, and to aid in paying the teachers' sal- 
aries for these three subjects. 

Beginning with the reconstruction period after the Civil 
War, a need was felt for better trained people in various 
industrial lines and the old saying, "As the tree is inclined 
so are its branches," or "As training, so will the person be," 
was gradually being put into practice. Our experience, 
profiting by that of Europe, shows that where industrial 
agriculture is finding its way, more efficient farming is being 
done. In Massachusetts for example, the same things were 
true with trades and industries. Some of the leading states, 
before the passage of the Smith-Hughes Bill, in vocational 
agriculture were Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, Okla- 
homa, and Maryland. The work that these states were do- 
ing demonstrated the value of vocational agriculture. 

"The Smith-Hughes BilP has for its purpose cooperating 
with the state and paying the salaries of teachers, super- 
visors, and directors of agricultural subjects, teachers of 
trades and industries, and teachers of home economics as well 
as the preparation of teachers for the same. This bill also 
carries with it the obligation that the state must pay one 
dollar for every dollar expended by this bill, as well as meet 
the minimum standard requirements. The education for this 
employment shall be of less than college grade and shall be 

* The Smith-Hughes Bill. 



Influence of Agricultural Legislation 31 

designed to meet the needs of persons over fourteen years 
of age, for the home economics and agricultural students who 
have entered or who are preparing to enter the work of the 
farm or farm home." 

The school must provide for directed or supervised prac- 
tice in agriculture on a farm for at least six months of the 
year. A project in agriculture is understood to be a pro- 
ductive, improvement, or demonstrational problem to be 
worked out by the pupil in agricultural lines, supervised by 
a teacher as part of his regular instructional work. The 
amount of money which each state receives is not less than 
$5,000, and an additional amount based upon the rural 
population of the state and the rural population of the 
United States. The amount is increased until the total ap- 
propriation reaches $3,000,000 in 1926 and the amount for 
the preparation of teachers is $1,000,000. Provisions are 
made for more efficient supervision as well as for better 
instruction. 

Interpreting Bulletin No. 1, by the Federal Board for 
Vocational Agriculture, vocational training must be for the 
common wage earning employment. It may be given to boys 
and girls who have selected a vocation and desire prepara- 
tion for entering the vocation as trained wage earners and 
to boys and girls who have already taken up wage earning 
employment and seek greater efficiency in that employment 
or to advance to positions of more responsibility. Bulleti/ri 
No. 1 also states that there is provision made for two funds 
which relate to agricultural instruction. One fund provides 
for salaries of teachers, supervisors, and directors of agri- 
cultural subjects and one provides for training teachers, 
supervisors, and directors of agriculture. All schools re- 
ceiving the Smith-Hughes money must be under public super- 
vision or control. The purpose must be to prepare for use- 
ful employment. A portion of vocational education govern- 



32 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

ment funds may be used to reimburse salaries of teachers 
who have met the standard set up by the State Boards. 

There are two types of secondary schools of agriculture, 
the special which is a separate agricultural school and the 
department of agriculture in the regular high school. The 
special or separate agricultural school should have a farm 
of suitable size and equipment to give supervised practice 
to all pupils enrolled in agricultural courses, as well as a 
laboratory equipped to give instruction in related sciences. 
The project work should be done on these farms only in cases 
where the pupils have no land at home for project work. 
The department of agriculture in a high school should have 
a room equipped for the purpose of instruction in agricul- 
ture. It should have seats, tables, and chairs that can be 
moved from one place to another, in order to provide for 
demonstration with apparatus. It should have equipment 
sufficient to demonstrate ordinary efficient methods of test- 
ing milk, incubating eggs, grafting trees, use of machinery, 
etc. A suitable room for properly storing apparatus and 
properly caring for materials collected in the community, 
such ds samples of grains, grasses, fruits, vegetables, feeds, 
etc., should be provided. The school should maintain a col- 
lection of up-to-date reference books and bulletins. These 
should be added to each year. A few good farm papers of 
general interest, for example, The Breeders Gazette, and 
System on the Farm, should be placed where the pupils may 
have access to them. The cost of equipment for twenty 
pupils would be determined by the laboratory work to be 
done. The farm mechanics equipment will be the most ex- 
pensive. This should be added to each year. 

Each school should provide sufficient funds for a well 
qualified teacher who should be employed twelve months per 
year. Each school should provide enough money to secure 
the needed material as well as to provide the teacher's trav- 



Influence of Agricultural Legislation 33 

eling expenses in supervising his projects and other com- 
munity activities. It is suggested that schools start on a 
one year course to be increased in time to four years and 
that fifty per cent or more of the time be given to agricul- 
tural work. The State Boards use the term unit for this 
work, which means an hour's work a day for one semester. 
Science as well as other useful courses will vary in the differ- 
ent states under different conditions. 

The qualifications of teachers of agriculture in the various 
states may be grouped under three types : 

1. Instructors in farm work. 

2. Instructors in agriculture and related science, 

3. Instructors in academic subjects. 

The teacher should have had a successful experience in farm- 
ing. He should be a graduate of a standard college of 
agriculture. He should be a man who will command the re- 
spect of the farmers of the community. He should possess 
qualities of leadership. He should be in sympathy with the 
farmers in the community. 

The qualifications of the supervisors and directors should 
be the (same as that required for the agricultural teachers 
and they should have in addition, two years of successful 
experience in teaching or supervising agriculture. A super- 
visor or director should have made some special study in the 
general problems of vocational agriculture. 

Pupils need the application of scientific principles which 
they are to learn. The home project is an enterprise under- 
taken by the pupil with full responsibility on his part both 
for financing the project and doing the work. It should 
be a business enterprise involving keeping the books, taking 
an inventory, and making a final statement. In addition, 
the project should contain certain home laboratory exer- 
cises, as testing milk, propagation of trees, etc. 

It is understood that all vocational education in agricul- 



34 Methods of Teachings Vocational Agriculture 

ture should be supervised by those in charge of vocational 
schools of the state. It is suggested by some State Boards 
that the approximate time of the course for teachers, not 
including experience, be forty per cent agriculture, thirty 
per cent science, twenty per cent humanistic studies, as his- 
tory and English, and ten per cent vocational subjects. 
Graduation requirements should include experience in fun- 
damental farm operations, in practice in laboratory opera- 
tions in the usual courses of a standard college, and in prac- 
tice in carrying on a farm business or some special line of 
agriculture, as hog raising or fruit growing, as well as prac- 
tice teaching work. 

Each state has placed its own interpretation on the Smith- 
Hughes Act as a separate state plan. While the details of 
practically every state vary, the fundamentals remain the 
same. 

Note. State plans of Smith-Hughes work quoted were taken from 
1920-1921 Bulletins. The 1921-1922 Bulletins will contain some changes. 



CHAPTER IV 

HOW THE SMITH-HUGHES BILL OPERATES 

The Smith-Hughes Bill operates through the Federal 
i Board for Vocational Education at Washington, D. C. This 
is a special board created for this purpose, but it also 
directs carrying out the Smith-Sears Bill. In most states 
I the Smith-Hughes Bill operates through the state board of 
education. The special agent of the state board is the state 
commissioner of vocational education. In some instances 
the president of the university is a member of the state board 
and in other states he is not. In many states there is a 
state supervisor of agricultural instruction. In some, as in 
Oklahoma, there has been created a state board for voca- 
tional education. 

The various states agree upon the following general con- 
'siderations as stated in the bill for Federal reimbursement: 
p.. The school must be under public supervision or control. 
te. The controlling purpose of this instruction must be to 

I fit the pupils for useful employment. 
The courses in agriculture must be designed to meet the 
needs of persons over fourteen years of age, who have 

II entered or who are preparing to enter upon the work of 
the farm or farm home. 

The state must spend a dollar for every dollar of Fed- 
eral funds used. 

Reimbursements to schools are for salaries of teachers, 
supervisors, and directors of agriculture, who are prop- 
erly qualified. 

35 



36 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

6. The local communities must provide laboratory facili- 
ties, class rooms, and for the supervision of the pupils' 
projects. 

Vocational agriculture of a secondary nature is taught 
in most states as a department of the district or union high 
school. In some states, as Nebraska, agriculture is taught 
in different kinds of high schools as the county high schools, 
consolidated schools, rural high schools, town and city high 
schools. The qualifications of the teachers do not differ to 
any great extent. Most states require a graduate of an 
agricultural college fof certification and some states, as 
California, require a fifth year's work. Practical farm ex- 
perience is also desirable. 

The training of teachers is under the direction of the 
state board which is responsible for the administration of 
the funds. The training is usually done through the state 
universities or colleges of agriculture. The unique feature 
about the plan in California for training teachers was con- 
ceived by Dr. E. R. Snyder, State Commissioner of Voca- 
tional Education. It was carried out through the University 
of California at Davis by the author in cooperation with 
the State Supervisor of Agricultural Instruction. This 
unique feature of short unit courses and project work in 
connection with training classes was efficient in preparing 
teachers in a short space of time. The number and kind of 
projects taken depend upon the previous experience and 
training of the student-teacher. In the spring of 1919, 
thirty-six projects were being conducted at one time, some 
of which were one-hundred-twenty-five laying hens, a sow and 
a litter of pigs, an acre of potatoes, harvesting and market- 
ing fruit, and most all kinds of vegetables were grown 
ranging in area from one-fourth acre to an acre and a half, 
depending upon the crop grown. The project is carried on 



How the Smith-Hughes BUI Operates 37 

in connection with the regular class room work where possi- 
ble. The technical information is given the student-teacher 
bj the division giving the class work. Student-teachers carry 
on projects in which they have had but little experience in 
order to become more efficient supervisors of high school 
projects later. These projects serve as an observation 
lesson to others who expect to teach vocational agriculture. 
They also serve as a basis for a large part of the class work 
in Methods of Teaching. 

The reimbursement for teachers differs in the various 
states. In Michigan where they have twelve pupils to a 
teacher, the money is divided by units and pro rated. Ac- 
cording to the state plans not over three-fourths of the 
salary is paid the teacher by the state board. In Cali- 
fornia where there may be twenty pupils to the teacher, the 
Smith-Hughes reimbursement is one-half of the teacher's 
salary up to $1,000 for the first year. In Nebraska teach- 
ers are allowed fifteen dollars per pupil for maintenance 
fund. In that state none but bona fide vocational agricul- 
tural students may be admitted to classes in vocational 
agriculture. The qualification for admission varies in dif- 
ferent states. In California one-fourth of the class may be 
made up of other pupils who can qualify, providing the 
total number in class is not over twenty pupils. In Iowa at 
least ten pupils must sign up for the course before it can be 
given. Plans for reimbursement will gradually be adjusted 
as the work develops. 

The instruction is largely given through the group or class 
as a whole. The type of teaching is being changed to indi- 
vidual instruction as rapidly as new teachers can be pre- 
pared. The purpose of the Federal Bill is to give the pupils 
such individual instruction as will best suit their needs. 
The instruction should be given from the standpoint of pro- 



38 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

duction rather than from the standpoint of scientific inves- 
tigation, if the state plans are carried out. The Massachu- 
setts plan will soon prevail where the project is made the 
basis and the problems growing out of the project will be 
of such a nature that the work will be mostly individual 
instruction. The change in teaching methods will be gradual 
as those who have had this special training enter the work. 

While the equipment will differ in different places, there 
is an attempt in many state plans to suggest a minimum 
amount. Not every school as yet has had an opportunity 
to fit a room or rooms primarily for agricultural instruc- 
tion. This will, however, be done as soon as local school 
authorities have time to adjust the school to the agricultural 
needs. 

The courses of instruction differ in different sections to 
suit the local conditions and to harmonize with the plan of 
those in charge of the work. For example, the Nebraska 
course of study is as follows:* 

First Year 

Live stock production and management. 
Farm shop work and supervised home projects. 

Second Year 

Crop production and soil management. 

Farm shop work (largely in connection with the project.) 

Supervised home project. 

Third Year 

Poultry production and management or 

Dairy production and management or 

Other specialized live stock production and management or 

Other special crop production and management. 

Farm machinery, farm motors. 

Supervised home project. 

* Plans for Vocational Education in Nebraska, 1919-19^. 



How the Smith-Hughes BUI Operates 39 

Fourth Year 
Farm management. 
Farm marketing. 
Rural economics. 
Rural sociology. 
Farm accounting. 
Farm management survey. 
Supervised farm accounting project. 

The schools operating under the Smith-Hughes Bill in 
California follow the State Course of Study^ which is as 
follows : 

First Year 

Farm projects, farm mechanics 2 Units 

Farm English % " 

Farm application of science % " 

Farm application of mathematics % " 

Hygiene % " 

Citizenship % " 

Physical education 1/^ " 

Second Year 

Farm projects, farm mechanics 2 Units 

Farm application of science % " 

Farm application of mathematics % '' 

Hygiene % " 

Citizenship % " 

English and literature % " 

Development of modern democracy and 

democracies % " 

Physical education 1^ *' 

Third Year 

Farm projects, farm mechanics 9, Units 

Farm application of science % ** 

Farm application of mathematics % *^ 

Hygiene % " 

^Bulletin No. 23, California State Board of Education, p. 14. 



40 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

Citizenship % Units 

English and literature % " 

Development of the United States % " 

Physical education % " 

Fourth Year 

Farm projects, farm mechanics 2 Units 

Farm application of science % " 

Farm home, and rural home and community life. .% " 

Farm economics • • • % " 

Hygiene % " 

Citizenship % " 

English and literature % " 

Physical education % " 

The farm mechanics or farm shop courses as they are 
called in various states differ greatly in content and methods 
of presentation, depending upon the teacher's previous train- 
ing and experience as well as upon the local needs of the 
pupils. These courses are often given in a separate build- 
ing or in a room especially equipped for this work. More 
and more of the mechanical work is being done on the home 
farm in connection with the project, as the construction of 
poultry and hog houses. 

There is a tendency to reorganize the courses in English 
and mathematics in order to make them fit into the every- 
day needs of the farm life and connect with the project 
activities. Other courses are also being revised and the dead 
wood is rapidly being eliminated. 

The operation of the Smith-Hughes Bill is developing 
courses according to the seasonal sequence of the farm 
activities. With the new type of trained teachers, more time 
will be given to supervising the home project. This project 
work must be developed differently in different states. For 
example, vegetable crops could not be started until late in 
the spring in Illinois, while in southern California they can 



How the Smith-Hughes BiU Operates 41 

be grown during the entire year. More time will necessarily 
be given in the spring to the project work when it is of such 
a nature that the actual project operations can not be done 
in the fall or winter. 

With many of the educational forces experimenting with 
and analyzing the job of the teacher of vocational agricul- 
ture, and trying to measure his efficiency, more uniformity 
in his training and better methods of instruction are sure 
to follow. The results of the operation of the Smith-Hughes 
Bill are already being felt in adjusting the high school pro- 
gram. The individual method of instruction is going to be 
used in giving the pupils what they should have to make 
them better farmers and citizens. The operation of this 
Bill is also going to cause the colleges and universities to 
change their courses in order to make them more worth 
while, especially for those who expect to enter the activities 
of the farm and farm home. 



CHAPTER V 



THE HOME PROJECT 



The project idea is the natural outgrowth of the great 
unrest in the school program, which had its beginning during 
the reconstruction period after the Civil War. Requests by 
parents were made to connect the school work more closely 
to the every day needs of the rural population. There was 
a continual demand for some part of the school work to 
really function in the every day activities of the pupils' lives. 
School gardens of various kinds were tried out to meet this 
demand. 

Since Dr. David Snedden used the terms, project and home 
project, in 1908 in connection with his work, the credit for 
the beginning of real vocational agricultural projects is 
probably due him. Dr. R. W. Stimson, who became Director 
of Northampton School in Massachusetts and later the State 
Supervisor of Vocational Agriculture, developed the project 
idea in that state. 

The home project in connection with the instruction, as 
shown by Dr. Stimson of Massachusetts, has come to be 
recognized as being superior to any other method of teach- 
ing. This method, when properly carried on, develops skill 
in carrying acts to completion. It also provides adequate 
opportunity for direct thinking and reasoning to the proper 
conclusion, based upon the experiences of the human race. 
It is probable that the term, "project method" is being over- 
worked by some of our teachers of classics who dwell upon 

42 



The Home Project 43 

theory alone, but certainly not by teachers of vocational 
agriculture. 

The underlying principles of the Smith-Hughes Act had 
the project idea in mind in developing the type of instruc- 
tion mentioned in the Act. The Smith-Hughes Act states 
that the vocational courses are designed to meet the needs 
of boys and girls who are over fourteen years of 
age and who are planning to enter the field of agricultural 
pursuits. The idea of giving the pupils project supervision 
in practical home work six months of the year has been 
another step in advance. 

The term project means an undertaking by the pupil to 
conduct an agricultural enterprise on a commercial basis 
for a period of at least six months. The work is to be done 
under the supervision of the instructor. There are three 
kinds of projects: first, productive projects, as growing an 
acre of potatoes or beans, raising hogs or poultry, etc., on 
a commercially productive basis; second, improvement pro- 
jects, as improving the yard or homestead; third, demon- 
strational projects, as growing a new variety of potatoes 
or growing potatoes to demonstrate the amount that can be 
produced on a given area. 

A productive farm project should consist of the produc- 
tion and marketing of farm or garden crops, vineyard or 
orchard crops, hogs, sheep, beef cattle, poultry or the pro- 
duction and marketing of dairy or poultry products. Some 
of the requirements of the project are as follows: 

1. It should be conducted on a commercial basis. 

2. The contract should be a written agreement signed 
by the pupil, parent, and teacher stating what each is to 
do, so that there will be no misunderstanding. 

3. The project should be of sufficient size to make it a 
business enterprise. 



44 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

4. It should extend over a long period of time in order 
to get as many of the fundamental principles of the under- 
taking as is possible. 

5. The pupil should purchase, unless otherwise stated in 
the contract, the seed for planting, or plants, and sacks or 
crates for marketing the crop. 

6. If the project deals with hogs, calves or poultry, the 
stock should be purchased, if not already on hand, under 
the supervision of the teacher. (If dairy cattle are chosen, 
they are usually selected from the father's herd.) 

7. Complete records should be kept of the project in- 
cluding such items as rent for teams, water, farm imple- 
ments, land, and other equipment used in connection with 
the project. 

8. The hours of labor should be recorded on the day the 
work is done. 

9. The records should show the total expenses, the total 
amount of money received from the project, and the total 
labor income, the labor income per hour, the net profit or 
loss on the project. 

10. A story of the project should be required by the 
instructor so that the pupil will organize the lessons he has 
learned. 

Not infrequently does the young teacher over-emphasize 
the money value of the project to the detriment of its edu- 
cational value. There is danger of the supervisor judging 
the teacher on the financial returns of the project instead 
of judging him by the benefits that the pupils have received 
in conducting the projects. 

The essentials of any one of the three kinds of projects 
are as follows : 

1. The definite purpose in view in which the pupil's finan- 
cial considerations are concerned should be clearly stated in 
the agreement. 



The HoTue Project 45 

2. The instruction in school should be of such a nature 
that it will form an intelligent background for the work of 
the project as it is being done. 

3. The teacher should supervise the project by giving 
the pupil the needed help and encouragement sufficiently to 
carry out the project to a successful conclusion. 

4. Complete records should be kept of the inventory, cost 
of conducting the project including labor ; expenses, receipts 
and value of the products on hand at the close of the 
project. 

5. The story of the project submitted to the teacher 
should contain the lessons learned from conducting the 
project. 

Many agricultural projects were first conducted on the 
school farm. Later they were transferred to the home or 
rented farms. Only a small per cent of the high schools in 
the United States own a school farm large enough for 
projects of many of the pupils. Where the school farm 
is used for this work, it is usually where the pupil has no 
land at home at his disposal. The main reason for the 
project idea being carried out on the home farm is that it 
combines the class room instruction with the practical farm 
operations. It gives the pupil an opportunity to try out 
his own ideas of farming. It is a finding course for many, 
thereby eliminating misfits of those who should engage in 
other pursuits. It has caused a reorganization of the high 
school curriculum, eliminating the non-essentials, and the 
pupils drink from a running stream. It has been a help to 
the parents for in many cases it is necessary for the pupil 
to make part of his own expenses while securing a high 
school education. The parents also indirectly receive the 
benefit of this instruction. The pupil finishing high school 
has had a practical education which fits him to earn a 
livelihood. 



46 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

One of the greatest handicaps of successful project work 
has been in securing properly trained teachers. To suc- 
cessfully supervise the project, it requires one who has been 
technically trained in the latest methods of scientific agri- 
culture, and who has had enough practical farm experience 
to successfully advise the pupils of the best methods to pur- 
sue. He must have the happy faculty of cooperating with 
the parents. 

Supervising the project is the most difficult task of the 
teacher of vocational agriculture. One of the first problems 
is to become acquainted with the home conditions of the 
pupil. Before the project has been decided upon, it is 
necessary to know about the home conditions to be assured 
that there are facilities for carrying out the project. The 
equipment, soil conditions, climatic conditions, markets, in- 
clination of the pupil and the attitude of the parents are 
all factors to be considered. No project ought to be started 
where there is a doubt in the teacher's mind as to whether 
it can be carried to a successful conclusion. Many times 
the pupil may become discouraged because financial returns 
are in the distant future, as, for example, in caring for an 
orchard. While projects are for their educational value, it 
is not good judgment on the part of the teacher to permit 
the pupil to select something that is expected to be a finan- 
cial loss. As soon as the project has been definitely decided 
upon and the parents have agreed to the plan, it is the 
psychological time for the contract to be signed. 

The inexperienced teacher will usually have a tendency to 
want the project to be too large. While no business enter- 
prise that incurs a financial loss should be considered, the 
educational value is its main purpose and should be kept in 
the foreground. A teacher recently remarked that the in- 
come from any one of his pupils' fifteen projects was 



The Home Project 47 

sufficient to keep the pupil during the entire year. It is 
during the plastic period of the boy's high school career 
that he should be vitally concerned with the science under- 
lying his practical work. 

Another problem of the teacher is, what to do with the 
city boy, should he want to take vocational agriculture. 
In such case, this will be a finding course and he should have 
as much as possible of the farm practice work. Even though 
his business enterprise is conducted on a small scale, it 
should be well planned and carried to a logical conclusion. 

The Massachusetts plan in starting with vegetable gar- 
dening, is a good idea. The boy may then go to the home 
flock of poultry for his next year's project. The following 
year he may take over a portion of the orchard or part 
of the dairy herd. The fourth year he will likely want to 
do the book-keeping of the entire farm and learn the mana- 
gerial jobs connected with the enterprise. 

Since in most states the teacher of agriculture has time 
for supervision, while the pupil is doing the work, he should 
give him the needed help called for. He should plan with 
the pupil, definitely what he is going to do and see that he 
gets the seeds planted, cultivation and irrigation well done 
at the proper time. The crop should usually be sold before 
it is harvested so that the teacher will not be embarrassed 
in helping the pupil find a market after the crop is harvested. 
He should be frank and honest with his pupils in all dealings. 
He should approach them in a business manner and keep in 
close touch with the project as it develops. One problem 
that the young teacher especially will find difficult in the 
beginning, is to gain the confidence of the pupil and the 
parents. Two good axioms to keep in mind are: first, know 
your subject; second, do not talk too much. Always be 
willing to answer any questions that may come up regarding 



48 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

other activities of the farm. In case the teacher can not 
give the desired information, he should look it up and answer 
by letter. 

It is better to have uniform projects for the different 
years where conditions warrant. The teacher must adapt 
himself to the local needs of the community and in doing so, 
different pupils may have to take different kinds of projects, 
even in the first year. The individual method of instruction 
is usually the type that fits best, so the teacher is not 
seriously handicapped. Where possible the project work 
should be directly connected with the class room instruc- 
tion. This is not always practical as the pupil should have 
well balanced courses in English, mathematics, biological 
sciences, history, etc., as a background for agriculture. 
Much of the information obtained from the subjects is 
needed in solving the daily problems of his farm life. 

While supervisors and teacher trainers are not all agreed 
on kinds and places of projects in high school work, there 
are some fundamental projects worth considering. A vege- 
table garden consisting of potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, beans, 
tomatoes, sweet corn, etc., either a half acre of each or a 
combination of crops will make a good first year project. A 
few acres of alfalfa or grain may be used where vegetables 
are not desired. A hundred or more hens make a very satis- 
factory project, but this fits better during the second year 
in connection with raising the green feed. Bees also make a 
good project. The number of colonies will depend upon the 
year in which the project is taken, and the pupil's facilities. 

For the second year, raising baby chicks in poultry sec- 
tions or a flock of poultry is very desirable for the project. 
Pigs, goats, sheep, calves, a few dairy cows, or a few beef 
cattle make a good second year project. Some educators 
advocate repair of farm machinery or improvement pro- 
jects for the second year. Production projects seem to be 



The Home Project 49 

the most desirable for the first three years for their financial 
and educational training. 

For the third year, fruit, a larger area of grain crops, 
more dairy cows, beef cattle, or hogs make a good project. 
This year there should be more specialization in particular 
crops and animals. Frequently the pupil may desire to 
carry over a project of the previous years and go more into 
detail and also increase the size of the project, which is 
highly commendable. 

The fourth year projects may be a continuation of the 
previous year projects or they may be managerial pro- 
jects consisting of keeping records of part or all of the 
farm. They may consist of replanning and improving the 
farm and farmstead. 

The following essentials in supervision of the project are 
worth considering: 

1. Have a definite plan. 

2. Give some specific information at every visit. 

3. Give the pupil an opportunity to ask questions. 

4. Take time to give the pupil the needed information 
and if necessary by demonstration. 

5. Visit the project as often as it is needed in order to 
keep the work up to a high standard. 

6. Review the records at frequent intervals. 

7. Plan the project so that it does not demand too much 
of the pupil's time. 

8. When in doubt as to the pupil carrying out instruc- 
tions, leave written assignments. 

9. Give the pupil the opportunity to be original and to 
do his own thinking. 

10. Encourage the pupil when he has difficult problems, 
to the extent that the project will not suff*er even when ad- 
verse conditions arise. 

Experience has shown that one of the weak points with 



60 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

many teachers is that they do not properly supervise the 
pupil's projects. Arrangements should be made to provide 
adequate traveling expenses before the teacher signs his 
contract. High school principals are beginning to realize 
that the teacher of agriculture can not be over-loaded with 
other classes in the afternoons and give proper time to his 
field supervision. 

The following are some of the benefits derived from home 
project work: 

1. The pupil has an opportunity to put into practice, 
the principles he has learned at school. 

2. It is a finding course for the future occupation or 
profession of the pupil. 

3. It teaches the pupil to appreciate the value of dollars 
in hours of labor. 

4. It develops the pupil's initiative, by actually doing 
the work and solving new problems as they present them- 
selves. 

5. It teaches good business principles in financial deal- 
ings. 

6. It gives the pupil a foundation for character building 
by having honest dealings with the business world. 

7. The parents are also benefited by having the associa- 
tion of the teacher in discussing his agricultural problems. 

8. The community is benefited by having a teacher who 
becomes the local farm advisor. 




SELF-FEEDERS FOR HOGS. Lodi, California 








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WEIGHING THE PROJECT PIG 
Salinas, California 



PRUNING AN ORCHARD 
Kingsbury, California 







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CHAPTER VI 

PLANNING THE LESSON AND LESSON PLANS 

The aim of education should be to better prepare for 
greater efficiency in doing that which our natural ability 
and inclinations are best suited to do. We should be pre- 
pared to follow some useful employment in which we can 
live a useful harmonious life, adapting ourselves to our sur- 
roundings. Society should permit no one to reach man- 
hood or womanhood without being fitted for some useful 
employment. Thus education should prepare one physically, 
morally, socially, mentally, and vocationally for useful citi- 
zenship in a civilized society. John Dewey has said that 
social efficiency is selecting the experiences of the human 
race that are to be impressed upon the individual. Educa- 
tion then means a continual change in growth and develop- 
ment. 

The lecture method has no place in high school work ; the 
conversational method is best suited for the development of 
the adolescent mind. Field trips should be taken in order to 
get first hand information to aid the solution of the problems 
at hand. The purpose of the lesson plan is to think through 
the lesson so as to have a definite object in view. The best 
teachers have never reached the point where preparation for 
a day's work is unnecessary. The teacher should vary the 
method of approach or development as seems to suit the 
needs best. The beginner should follow a lesson plan closely 
and the motive should always be preserved. Illustrative 

51 



62 Methods of TeacJimg Vocational Agriculture 

materials should be given and short trips taken when they 
are needed to make the work better understood. As an ex- 
ample, the class does not understand what the nodules on 
the alfalfa roots are and an alfalfa field is near the school 
house. At this point the teacher should take the class to 
the alfalfa field and there demonstrate the value of the 
nodules on the roots. 

Have the class secure material when possible. As an 
example, a good beef animal may be brought to the school 
for judging purposes. When a pupil is asked to bring some 
illustrative material, he should never be disappointed; the 
material brought for this purpose should be used in class. 

The blackboard serves a good purpose and teachers should 
become skillful in expressing their thoughts on the board, 
but should not use it to the sacrifice of the interest of the 
class. Pictures from books and laboratory material can 
frequently be used to good advantage in making a lesson 
clear. 

The assignment should be a clear cut definite problem 
which needs solution. It should be made when needed to 
solve a problem which develops in the class and needs solu- 
tion. At the end of the period the lesson may be assigned 
by putting it in the form of a problem needing solution for 
the next lesson. This problem will raise questions. By 
proper direction, living problems are constantly before the 
pupils in preparing their lessons as well as during the reci- 
tation. The problems should be real issues. The assign- 
ment should be definite as to what is expected and should 
not be too long. As an example, why are the markets de- 
manding carefully graded and well packed apples? Keep 
the subject matter separate in planning, so that the whole 
topic can be covered. The teacher must think out the prob- 
lems that might be raised so as to make the assignment when 



Planmng the Lesson and Lesson Plans 53 

the situation demands it during the recitation. One topic 
may last several days, but conclusions should be drawn as 
the work progresses. The subject matter should constantly 
be changed for no two groups of children have had exactly 
the same experience. There is no method of teaching that 
can take the place of a thorough knowledge of the material 
which bears upon a topic to be treated. It must be treated 
in such a way that the pupils will not only grow in knowl- 
edge, but also in the desire to inquire and investigate the 
power to satisfy their intellectual craving. After the 
teacher has in mind an abundance of instructive material, 
the next step is to organize the material to be presented. 
This can not be gotten from books for it too frequently has 
no relation to the needs of the particular problems of the 
class to be taught. The organization must take account of 
the child's point of view and responses to the needs for this 
material to be presented. This is what is meant by 
the psychological and logical method in presenting subject 
matter. 

Good organization demands that the material selected be 
grouped around a few coordinate heads. For illustration, 
in developing the essentials for plant growth each essential 
can be developed and proven to be of value to the plant. A 
good plan will include pivotal questions which serve to recall 
the main topics in the main organization of the subject mat- 
ter. The essentials of a good question are : 

1. Is it thought provoking, pertaining to the subject.^* 

2. Does it require previous knowledge and organization 
of material to think it out? 

3. Does it bear direct thought toward the solution of 
the problem under consideration? 

All questions can not be anticipated ahead of time, even 
when the lesson plan has been clearly thouglit through, but 



64 Methods of Teaclimg Vocational Agriculture 

it will be easier to intelligently guide the discussion of ques- 
tions raised by the class. A few well prepared, well chosen 
questions prevent the class from wandering. A thought pro- 
voking question is directly dependent upon the teacher's aim 
in presenting the lesson. A frequent criticism of a lesson 
is, that the ground covered during the period can not be 
traced by the class at the end of the recitation. 

Summaries should be worked in the lesson plan as soon 
as the main topics are covered. A real teacher summarizes 
his work as he passes from one point to the other. This is 
simply put in the form of a question to get a new view of 
the ground already covered. 

Of the various kinds of lessons, namely — drill, inductive, 
deductive, review or examination, study lesson, recitation, 
student demonstration, and lessons for the appreciation, the 
inductive usually best suits the high school age. However, 
various kinds should be used when the occasion demands. As 
an example, a lesson may be given for appreciation when 
the class is studying some new song which illustrates some 
type of agriculture. A review lesson should be planned to 
better organize the material that has been presented and 
usually a class recitation is better for the purpose than too 
many written lessons. 

PURPOSE 

The purpose of the lesson plan is to have the material so 
arranged that it will be interesting and instructive to the 
pupil at the time it is given. In this way it will become part 
of his apperceptive basis. The plan gives the teacher his 
aim and keeps him from wandering too far from his par- 
ticular subject. In working out the lesson plan, he is 
forced to think the subject through so that he understands 
what he is going to teach : it gives him a body of information 
for expression and gives him warmth of enthusiasm for the 



Plannmg the Lesson and Lesson Plans 55 

lesson, so that his questions can be well arranged for a 
logical sequence. There may be five steps in a logical lesson 
plan. The five steps in the Herbartian lesson plan are 
probably the easiest of following through in a systematic 
way for better organization of the material to be utilized. 

PREPARATION 

"To prepare the pupil to reason in a given situation from 
the data in hand to the conclusion which of necessity will 
follow, it is first of all necessary that he should see that the 
situation presents a problem. We reason only when we have 
some aim or purpose which can be satisfied by this process. 
But if consciousness of aim or problem is at the foundation 
of this type of thinking, and if we are to deal with the class 
in groups, it is essential that the situation which involves 
the problem be made the common possession of all. The 
step of preparation presents these two problems to the 
teacher: — (1) To find a basis in experience already had 
or to provide the experience which involves the problem to 
be considered. (2) To make the pupil feel the necessity for 
the solution — that is, to make the problem vital to him." 
Any object or situation has meaning to us only as it con- 
nects itself with and can be interpreted by previous experi- 
ence. In the preparation we aim to make the pupils con- 
scious of the fact that there is an immediate problem which 
is within their grasp and which needs solution. The ques- 
tions asked by the teacher will tend to throw light toward 
the solution of the problem at hand. The problem may 
need a solution before continuing the work ; as an example, 
in one of the lessons given it is necessary to know something 
of the structure and care of eggs before we can properly 
grade them for marketing. In many cases the problem will 
not be solved in a single lesson. This should be made clear 
in the assignment for the following lesson. If we expect a 



66 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

class to think, it is necessary to provide stimuli for that 
thinking. Any situation or object is called to a pupil's 
attention only as it communicates itself and is interpreted 
in terms of his previous experience. 

PRESENTATION 

"The full realization of the problem to be solved involves 
a consideration of data already at hand in experience. When 
we have the problem clearly in mind, we examine this ex- 
perience more carefully to see what bearing it may have 
upon the solution, or we may gather data, observing more 
critically or more extensively, or experiment in such a man- 
ner as to involve the solution of our problem." ^ Sometimes 
the work of the teacher will consist in helping the pupils to 
recall their past experience and to apply it to the question 
at hand. At other times, when experience is lacking, the 
teacher must direct the pupils to the sources of data, guide 
them in their observations or experiments, or give them the 
data which will bear on the situation. Our ability to think 
logically upon any new topic is conditioned by our ability 
to see facts in new relations and to recognize our data with 
reference to the new problem. Not that we know the fact, 
but that we can use it, aids in our understanding of the 
lesson and in encouraging intelligent answers and not ran- 
dom guesses. As an example, the problem of finding the 
area of a cylinder may not be understood, but when it is 
finding the capacity of a silo in order to determine the 
amount of silage it will hold, it presents an entirely differ- 
ent problem. In animal husbandry, the term "dual purpose" 
will only be clearly understood when we find it can be applied 
to many different kinds of animals. Pupils need direction 
in observation so as to drink from running streams and to 
eliminate dead wood from living material. The teacher must 
^Strayer: A Brief Course in the Teaching Process. 



Flarmmg the Lesson and Lesson Plaris 57 

have clearly defined in his own mind the purpose of the 
lesson. 

COMPARISON 

"With the problem clearly defined and the data provided, 
the next step consists of comparison and the resulting 
abstraction of the element present in all of the cases which 
make for the solution of the problem. In the ordinary 
course of our thinking, we find ourselves in a situation which 
presents a problem that demands an adjustment. . . . We 
formulate an hypothesis which furnishes the basis for our 
work in attempting to solve the problem ; we gather data in 
the light of the hypothesis assumed, which through com- 
parison and abstraction lead us to believe our hypothesis 
correct or false. If the hypothesis seems justified by the 
data gathered, it is further tested by an appeal to experi- 
ence. That is, we endeavor to see whether our conclusion 
holds in all cases. Often many inferences will be necessary 
before we succeed in finding the one that will stand the test. 
If this test proves satisfactory we generalize or define. 
Lastly this generalization or definition is used as a point of 
reference or truth to guide in later thinking or activity." 

GENERALIZATION 

"We feel that we have solved the problem when we are 
ready to state our generalization. One can never be quite 
sure that he has solved his problem until he finds himself 
able to state clearly the results of his thinking. . . . Pupils 
should be encouraged to give their own definition or gener- 
alization before referring to that which is provided by the 
teacher or the book." The significance of a generalization 
for further thinking or future work depends upon the substi- 
tution of words for thoughts and upon adequate realiza- 
tion of the significance of the conclusions reached. 



68 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 



APPLICATION 

"Whatever conclusions we have reached, whatever truth 
we have satisfactorily established, influences us in our later 
thought and action. The application makes clear the truth 
itself and helps to fix it in the mind." The conclusion ar- 
rived at to-day is chiefly significant as a basis of our think- 
ing of to-morrow and it is as we apply our conclusions that 
new problems arise to stimulate us to further thought and 
intellectual activity. The true teacher provides for the 
application of every lesson to the daily life of the child, so 
that to his apperceptive basis are continually added new 
thoughts and ideas which will make him more efficient in his 
future development. 

LESSONS PLANS 



Larger Problem: 
Special Problem: 
Teacher's Aim: 

Pupils' Aim: 



Vegetabfq Gardening. 

Preparation for planting sweet com. 

To show the pupils that a well pre- 
pared seed bed is essential for 
sweet corn. 

To understand why it is necessary 
to have a well prepared seed bed 
for sweet corn. 



References : 



Productive Vegetable Gardening — ■ 

Lloyd, pp. 212-213. 
Farmers' Bulletin^ 937. 



Preparation 



In what ways have you noticed land 
being prepared for sweet com? 
Why this variation in prepara- 
tion of land, depth of plowing, 
and fertilizer used? 



Plannmg the Lesson and Lesson Plans 
Presentation: Pivotal Questions 



59 



What the seed 
bed is. 

Preparation o f 
the seed bed. 

Why the seed bed 
is important. 



Fertilizers. 



What is the most desirable time in 
the year to plow for sweet corn? 
Under what conditions does this 
vary? To what extent does the 
depth of plowing influence the 
yield of sweet corn? In some in- 
stances the ground is cultivated 
many times, while in others only 
once. Why should you expect 
this to make a diff*erence in the 
crop? Are there any reasons for 
plowing some soil ten inches deep 
and other soil only five inches? 
To what extent does fertilizer in- 
crease the yield of sweet com? 
What are the determining factors 
in the preparation of the seed 
bed? What influence does the 
variety of com have upon the 
preparation of the seed bed ? Un- 
der what conditions is irrigation 
desirable before the crop is plant- 
ed? What are the best methods 
of improving the soil for this 
crop? 



Comparison 



Compare the preparation of the seed 
bed for sweet corn with that of 
other garden crops. Why this 
diff^erence ? 



Generalization : 



What are the conditions influencing 
the preparation of the seed bed? 
To what extent is the climate a 
factor? To what extent is the 
soil an influencing factor? 



60 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 



Application : 

Larger Problem: 
Special Problem 
Teacher's Aim: 

Pupils' Aim: 

References: 



Preparation : 



Presentation : 

When to 
falfa. 



cut al- 



Importance o f 
proper time of 
cutting. 



Methods 
ting. 



of cut- 



Handling the 
crop. 



In what way will knowing how to 
properly prepare the seed bed help 
you in your home garden or pro- 
ject work.'* 

Field crops. 

Harvesting alfalfa. 

To emphasize the best methods of 
harvesting alfalfa. 

To determine the best methods of 
harvesting alfalfa. 

Field Crops — Wilson and Warbur- 
ton, pp. 383-385. Alfalfa m Kan- 
sas — Kansas State Board of Agri- 
culture, pp. 118, 137, 241, 248, 
305, 330, 439, 472. 

(Previous lesson was a discussion of 
methods of irrigating alfalfa.) 

How does the farmer tell when to cut 
alfalfa? What different methods 
have you seen used in harvesting 
the crop? What machinery used? 

Pivotal Questions 

When should alfalfa be cut for hay? 
When should it be cut for seed? 
What is likely to be the effect on 
the hay if cut too early or too 
late? Compare the machine used 
for each operation with the best 
type to use. Describe the way the 
crop should be handled in harvest- 
ing. What are the essentials in 
harvesting alfalfa ? Why does the 
crop often spoil? Why do some 
farmers bale the crop and others 
feed the alfalfa loose? 



Planning the Lesson and Lesson Plans 
Comparison : 



61 



Generalization : 
Application : 

Larger Problem: 
Special Problem 
Teacher's Aim: 

Pupils' Aim: 

References : 



Preparation : 



Presentation : 
Maintenance. 

Eggs. 

Protein. 



Compare the common practices used 
in harvesting with the best meth- 
ods to use. 

How should alfalfa be harvested? 
What are the advantages in using 
the most scientific methods? 

How will this information aid you 
in harvesting your alfalfa project 
crop or the alfalfa crop on your 
home farm? 

Poultry Husbandry. 

Poultry Feeding. 

To show the proper feeds to in- 
crease egg production. 

To determine the most economical 
feeds for feeding laying hens. 

Poultry Keeping — ^Lewis, Chap. 25. 
Productive Poultry/ Husbandry — ■ 
Lewis, Chap. 12. The Essentials 
of Poultry Raising — Kaupp, 
Chap. 12. 

What kinds of feeds are fed to 
chickens? If a mixture of grain 
has been fed, what did it contain? 
What kind of feed da chickens 
seem to relish most? 

Pivotal Questions 

Why do we feed more hard feed to 
laying hens than to most animals ? 
Grit seems to be necessary for best 
results, why? What feeds does 
the hen need for a maintenance 
ration? Since the egg, beside the 



62 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 



Carbohydrate 
(green feed). 

Mineral 

(shell, grit). 

Balancing the 
ration. 



Comparison; 



Generalisation 



shell, contains 40 per cent fat, 50 
per cent solid matter, and 3 per 
cent ash, what should we feed to 
produce eggs? Why is sunflower 
seed added to the feed? Since 
shell is found in the self feeder, 
what is its function in egg pro- 
duction? Since green feed is 
largely water, why do the rustling 
hens relish it? What kinds of 
feeds contain a large amount of 
protein, and what kinds contain a 
large amount of carbohydrate? 
Do you think the hen needs any 
other feed, if so, for what? (Show 
samples of various kinds of feed 
for the class to observe at first 
hand ; show sample mixtures of va- 
rious home and commercial feeds.) 
How can we find out what feeds the 
hen would eat, if she had her 
choice? How do we know how 
much water she would drink? How 
much grain should be fed to 100 
pounds of mash? What are the 
determining factors in feeding 
laying hens? In what way has 
this information aided in mixing 
commercial feeds for laying hens? 

Compare the feeds used for the lay- 
ing hen with those used for fat- 
tening chickens. Also compare 
them with those used for growing 
stock. Why this diff^erence? 

How much and what kinds of feed 
would you give 100 White Leghorn 
hens per day? 



Pla/wiwng the Lesson and Lesson Plans 



63 



Application : 



Assignment : 



Larger Problem; 
Special Problem: 
Teacher's Aim: 

Pupils' Aim: 

References : 



Preparation : 



Presentation : 
Grade of eggs. 



In what way is the poultryman bene- 
fited by knowing the most eco- 
nomical kind and amount of dif- 
ferent feeds that his hens should 
have to produce eggs? How can 
this be applied to your poultry 
project? 

For to-morrow find out the most eco- 
nomical feeds and amount that 
you will need of each for the lay- 
ing hens in your home flock, or in 
your poultry project. 

Poultry Husbandry. 

Egg Production. 

To teach the pupils that it pays to 
market high priced eggs. 

To prepare and select eggs to bring 
the highest prices. 

The Essentials of Poultry Raising — 
Kaupp, pp. 11, 75-80. Poultry 
Keeping — ^Lewis, pp. 282, 432- 
434. Productive Poultry Hus- 
bandry — Lewis, pp. 287-291, 
428-443. 

How do eggs that you have seen com- 
pare in size, color, and cleanliness, 
when gathered from the nest ? How 
do you prepare your eggs for marv 
ket? 

Pivotal Questions 

To what extent does the color effect 
the price of eggs? Why does this 



64 Methods of Teaclimg Vocational Agriculture 



Market demand. 

How to get high 
priced eggs. 



Comparison : 



Generalization: 



Application : 



vary in the Chicago and Boston 
market? How does this influence 
the popularity of the American 
breeds of poultry in many places? 
Why do many successful poultry- 
men cull out hens that lay small 
or odd shaped eg-fi^s? (Show to 
class samples of various shaped 
eggs.) What effect would it 
likely have on the market, if hens 
were bred and selected for a uni- 
form lay during the entire year 
instead of trying to force them to 
lay more during the winter 
months? What is the effect on 
the price of candling and grading 
market eggs? To what extent 
does one's reputation influence the 
price he receives? 

Compare the prices received for eggs 
and their care and methods of 
handling by the average farmer 
with the price, care, and methods 
of handling by the most up-to-date 
poultryman. Why this difference? 

About what per cent more does the 
up-to-date poultryman receive for 
his eggs? Why then is it that the 
farmer does not take more pains 
in preparing and marketing his 
eggs? 

What factors enter into the selec- 
tion, grading, and marketing of 
eggs ? How will the things learned 
in to-day's lesson help you in your 
project or in marketing eggs from 
your home flock? 



Plannmg the Lesson and Lesson Plans 
Larger Problem: Dairy Cattle. 



65 



Special Problem; 
Teacher's Aim: 

Pupils' Aim: 
References : 



Preparation : 



Presentation : 

Reasons for selec- 
tion of the best 
type for this 
section. 

Characteristics 
of the breed. 

The products. 



The best type of dairy cow for this 
section. 

To show that the Holstein is the best 
type of dairy cattle for this sec- 
tion. 

To determine the best breed of dairy 
cows for the project. 

Productive Dairy Husbandry — 
Washbumy Chap. 7. Types and 
Breeds of Farm Animals — Plumb, 
p. 269. Dairy Farming — Eckles 
and Warren, pp. 17-24. 

(The previous lesson was a discus- 
sion of dairy breeds of cattle.) 
What do you know of the different 
kinds of dairy cattle.? Why are 
there several dairy breeds in this 
section ? 

Pivotal Questions 

Why do we study a certain type of 
dairy cow for a certain section? 
Under what conditions did the 
Holstein cattle develop.'' Compare 
these conditions with those under 
which the Jersey and Guernsey 
developed. Then compare with 
our own conditions. Why is the 
Holstein a popular breed in many 
places.? What is the most strik- 
ing characteristic of the Holstein 
breed.? What is the reason for its 
being the chosen breed in many 
places ? What rating does it hold 



66 Methods of TeacJimg Vocational Agriculture 



Comparison : 



Generalization ; 
Application ; 



Larger Problem 
Special Problem: 
Teacher's Aim: 



Pupils' Aim: 
References : 



as a milk producer? What qual- 
ity and quantity of milk does it 
give? What rating does it hold 
as a butter producer ? What rat- 
ing does it hold as a beef pro- 
ducer? Why are the calves in 
great demand? 

Compare the Holstein cow with the 
Jersey and Guernsey as a milk 
producer. Compare the Holstein 
with the Shorthorn as a beef pro- 
ducer. 

Why keep Holstein cattle? 

Notice the cattle in this section and 
compare them with what you have 
learned about the Holstein. At 
home or on some farm where Hol- 
steins are kept, notice the quality 
and quantity of milk given by 
them. How will this information 
help in selecting dairy cows for 
the project work? 

Marketing fruit. 

Marketing apples. 

To show that there is a large mar- 
gin between the price the grower 
receives and what the consumer 
pays for market apples. 

To understand the reasons for the 
excessive cost in marketing fruit. 

California Fruits — Wickson, pp. 
208-210. Modern Methods of 
Marketing Fruit — Brown, Chap. 



Plarmmg the Lesson and Lesson Plans 



67 



Preparation 



Presentation : 

Time of picking. 
Relation to 
market. 



Market methods. 

Comparison of 
markets. 



Comparison : 



Generalization : 

Application : 

Larger Problem: 
Special Problem 



Why has the apple development in- 
creased during the last few years? 
What are the difficulties in raising 
fruit? If insects and diseases were 
well under control, what then from 
your experience would be our 
greatest problem? 

Pivotal Questions 

What determines the time of picking 
apples? What are the influencing 
factors in marketing apples? To 
what extent does a reputation in- 
fluence the price of fruit? What 
are the elements of success in mar- 
keting fruit? Why does fruit 
raised in the west shipped to the 
east bring the same price that it 
does in the west? What should be 
the comparative diff^erence in price 
in San Francisco and Chicago? 

Compare the cost of marketing ap- 
ples with the cost of other perish- 
able products. Compare the dif- 
ferent methods of handling fruit 
in regard to efficiency in market- 
ing. 

What is the conclusion of large 
growers of apples regarding the 
better market ? In what ways can 
marketing systems be improved? 

What benefits do the fruit growers 
derive from making a study of the 
market problems? 

Irrigation. 

Irrigation of alfalfa. 



68 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 



Teacher's Aim; 



Pupils' Aim: 



References : 



Preparation : 



Presentation : 

Water require^ 
ments. 



Systems of irri- 
gation, check for 
border flooding, 
furrow, port- 
able pipe. 

Adaptability o f 
each system, 
soil, topography 
water supply. 



Comparison 



To explain the methods of irrigating 
alfalfa and to show their adapt- 
ability. 

To determine the method of irrigat- 
ing alfalfa best suited to local 
conditions. 

Irrigation and Drai/nage — King, pp. 
338, 345, 352. Farmers Bulletin, 
No. 864, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 
ture. Farmers Bulletin, No. 865, 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

(Previous lessons covered surveying 
for irrigation, leveling, checking, 
and water supply.) What meth- 
ods have you noticed used in irri- 
gating alfalfa.'' 

Pivotal Questions 

What kind of root does alfalfa h.Si\e? 
What is a water table? How may 
it affect alfalfa? 

Name four systems of irrigation 
adapted to alfalfa. 

Describe each system. 



To what conditions is each system 
adaptable ? 

What factors influence the system 
used? Which system do you think 
would suit your conditions best? 
Why? 

Compare the diff^erent systems in the 
community for irrigating alfalfa. 



Plarmmg the Lesson and Lesson Plans 
Generalization : 



69 



Application : 

Larger Problem: 
Special Problem; 
Teacher's Aim: 
Pupils' Aim: 

References : 



Preparation : 



Presentation : 



What systems are best adapted for 
irrigating alfalfa in the com- 
munity? For other crops? 

How can the results of this lesson be 
applied to your own farm or 
project work? 

Wool production. 

Characteristics of wool. 

To show the characteristics of wool. 

To recognize the kind of wool best 
to produce. 

Feeding and Management of Live 
Stock — Shaw, p. 11. Farm Ani- 
mals— Wilcox, p. 238-286. Man- 
ual of Farm Animpls — Harper, 
pp. 359-376. 

To what extent is wool produced in 
this section? Why is it worth 
while to know the characteristics 
of wool? 



Presence of oil or yolk. 

Length of staples % 

18 in. 
Thickness or density. 



Number of fibers 5,000 to 
48,000 per sq. inch. 

Crimp or curl. 

30 waves in an inch in 
length of very fine wool, 
caused by thickness of 



Pivotal Questions 

What causes the fibers to be 

strong and elastic? 
Why does length of fiber 

vary with the breed? 
Upon what does the weight 

of wool depend? 



What causes crimp or curl.^ 
Why should they be regular 
in appearance? 



70 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 



cortical layer, first on 
one side then on the 
other. 

Softness. 

Color in the staple, white, 
rich yellow, orange, 
black; lustrous in all 
cases. 

Style or quality. 

Uniformity in fineness, 
length, density. 

Closure of fleece — glueing 
of ends together to 
form crust; impervious 
to rain, protection 
against dust, confined 
to fine wool breeds. 



What influences softness of 
wool ? 

Of what is color an impor- 
tant indication? 

Why? 

What makes up the quality 
of wool? 

To what has uniformity ref- 
erence? 

What is closure of fleece? 

(Show samples of good 
wool.) 

Why is this considered a 
good quality or character- 
istic of wool? 



Felty wool, absence of What causes felty wool? 

yolk. 
Discoloration. 
Lack of wave or crimp. 

Comparison : 



Generalization : 
Application: 



Compare wool of different breeds as 
to leading characteristics. 

What are the most important of the 
characteristics of wool? 

How will knowing these character- 
istics help in the selection of a 
breed of sheep to be used for 
wool production? 



CHAPTER VII 

THE FIELD AND LABORATORY WORK 

The field trip is one of the most perplexing problems for 
the inexperienced teacher. The trip should be made when- 
ever it is necessary to better understand some phase of the 
work that can be seen in the community. As an example, 
Mr. Jones has some pure-bred Shorthorn cattle; the class 
has been studying the characteristics of pure-bred Short- 
horns ; then the trip should be made to see his stock and 
compare with the ideal the pupils may have in mind. 

The trip should be planned by the teacher several days in 
advance. He should first visit the farm and familiarize 
himself with the herd, the method of getting there, the dis- 
tance, and make arrangements with Mr. Jones or his herds- 
man so that some one who is familiar with the herd will be 
there when the trip is made by the class. If the owner ob- 
jects, the teacher should not insist on having his class make 
the trip. On the other hand, if the teacher approaches Mr. 
Jones in the proper manner, he will always be glad to give 
out any information when it is for educational purposes. By 
going over the field and getting the proper consent of the 
owner or manager and telling him the purpose of the trip, 
much better results can be accomplished. It is always de- 
sirable to go and come on time. The teacher should in- 
sist that the pupils do not ask impertinent questions and that 
unbecoming remarks are not made about the herd while the 
class is inspecting the same. 

If the teacher goes with the pupils to judge, he may give 

71 



72 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

them a demonstration, but he must use tact in his discus- 
sions. If a trip is to be made to give a demonstration of 
pruning in Mr. Smith's apple orchard, it should be planned 
in the same way, by having made definite arrangements be- 
fore the trip is taken. By having a specific purpose, mak- 
ing an outline which the pupils should take with them, and 
having a short but definite report upon the return, much is 
gained. No trip should be taken out of curiosity or to fill 
in time, but because it is needed to make the work at hand 
better understood. Each pupil should have some definite 
problem in which he is interested, otherwise he should be left 
at the school instead of going on the field trip. The time to 
take trips is near the beginning of a new study, so as to 
form a general impression for the apperceptive basis of the 
pupil to be used in the future development of the particular 
subject at hand. Many good teachers of vocational agri- 
culture visit the better herds, larger manufacturing estab- 
lishments, and special enterprises of the community during 
the school year. This is highly desirable. Not infrequently 
the teacher may have a set date each week for a field trip. 
This method is not to be recommended, for the trip should 
come at the beginning of the subject when it will make the 
work better understood; also, when it fits in with the time 
of the owner or manager as well. 

The method of conducting a field trip should be rather 
definite. Before going, instruction should be given regard- 
ing the manner of conduct on the road and after reaching 
the destination. The work should be conducted with as 
little friction as possible. While iron clad rules should not 
be made, good order and intelligent questions only should be 
permitted. Upon return a written report should be made 
and handed to the teacher or placed in the note book until 
the next regular meeting of the class. In going on a trip it 
is not desirable to have too many things in mind to see. For 



The Field and Laboratory Worh 73 

example, a teacher once took his class to the International 
Show at Chicago and tried to have the class see everything 
in the show. The following day when asked by another 
teacher to write about the trip, only two of the class of 
fifteen chose the same subject. The next year he took an- 
other class for the purpose of judging live stock. When he 
returned he found that the second class had accomplished 
the specific purpose. This is usually the case. While side 
trips are frequently made, every trip should have an object 
in view. It sometimes happens that it is desirable to visit a 
commercial concern which is of importance in the com- 
munity. Care should be taken in planning such trips to 
see that there is not too much time spent by the manager in 
advertising his own particular products. In many cases the 
teacher pilots the pupils and the specialist makes the ex- 
planations. The information gained in this way is often 
used as a basis for future discussions. 

Plan your work and work your plan in making a trip 
worth while. Correlate the results accomplished with the 
class work then in progress. Never make a trip unless there 
is a special object in view, and upon the return be sure that 
the pupils have gotten enough from the trip to make it 
worth while. 

The tendency of all science work in the high school is to 
have part of it done in the laboratory. Many pupils who 
can not understand the particular workings of a part of a 
plant or animal can do so perfectly well when they see and 
analyze it in the laboratory. The eye is the great factor 
in making final impressions. With an up-to-date teacher, 
about one-third of the entire work consists of laboratory 
exercises and demonstrations. 

The methods used in the laboratory will vary with the 
teacher, but some fundamental principles should be con- 
sidered, if the best results are to be obtained. The methods 



74 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

of presenting this type of work should be clear cut, in that a 
definite system should be followed. Most authors say the 
problem should be stated and material to use should be 
clearly set forth, then directions for doing the work should 
be given. The exercises and experiments should be written 
up in brief and concise statements as soon as they have been 
performed. The conclusions should also be made in a few 
short sentences. It is desirable, where possible, to have 
the pupils collect their own material. Not infrequently will 
a teacher give class demonstrations after which the in- 
dividual pupils will perform the various exercises and ex- 
periments. 

The teacher's place is to be in the laboratory while the 
work is being done. The class should refrain from loud 
conversation and from moving promiscuously about the" 
room except when going or coming from the particular 
work. Not a few teachers have had serious difficulty in 
handling the laboratory work on account of having been 
lax in the beginning. There is also another side, where the 
pupils are held to a close routine which curbs their initiative 
as well as causes them to form a bad impression of the work 
and of the teacher. 

Every drawing that is made in the laboratory should be 
a clear, distinct sketch, bringing out the point that it is 
intended to show and should be neatly labeled. Shaded draw- 
ings for the sake of artistic display have no place in the 
vocational laboratory. Neatness and accuracy should be 
insisted upon in every exercise that is made. When it is 
necessary to make an explanation to the entire class, it 
should be done at the beginning or at a stated time in order 
that the work of the class w^ll not be interrupted. For 
example, in candling and examining eggs in order to find out 
how eggs look at different stages of development, explana- 
tion should first be made to the entire class and general ques- 



The Field cmd Laboratory Work 75 

tions, if any should be answered. The exercises should be 
written on a sheet of paper and handed to the pupils or 
written on the board. They should state the object, material 
to be used, method of procedure, and have space for the 
conclusion. As an example, if the exercise is to examine 
eggs and observe the contents, the pupils should candle and 
afterwards break and examine the eggs in an orderly way, 
after which the drawings should be made, labeled, and notes 
neatly written for the laboratory note book. 

In grading the work in laboratory, great care should be 
taken to see that it has been properly done. The teacher 
should spend at least a few minutes of the period in looking 
over the note book in the pupil's presence. He should 
point out wherein it is not well done and give the pupil an 
opportunity to correct his errors or else grade him ac- 
cordingly. The note books should not be removed from 
the room for the sake of grading them. This should be 
done by the teacher before the class is dismissed. The 
grades should be recorded in the pupil's presence and the 
teacher's O.K. placed on each sheet. The sheets should then 
be numbered and placed in the pupil's note book. In case 
of absence the work should, if possible, be made up in the 
presence of the teacher. All laboratory notes as well as 
the field trip "write up" should be kept until the close of the 
school year. 



CHAPTER VIII 

FIRST YEAR AGRICULTURE 

Experience thus far seems to indicate that the best re- 
sults in vocational agriculture can be accomplished by 
grouping the first year's work around the plant life and the 
second yearns work around the animal industry. Begin 
the first year's work with a simple question, as Why do we 
study agriculture? or, To what extent are we dependent 
upon the products of agriculture? What are the import- 
ance and possibilities of the agricultural development in 
the community with reference to vegetables, farm crops, or 
fruit as the case may be? From the above questions we 
will get into a discussion of the plants' usefulness. This dis- 
cussion, if carefully directed, will lead us to consider the 
pupil's proposed project. Before a final decision is reached, 
we should consider the soil and climatic conditions, the cost 
of production, possible returns, or use of the product, the 
market conditions, equipment at his disposal, time avail- 
able, and what the parents or guardians may have to say 
regarding the pupil's proposed project. Not infrequently, 
it may take a few weeks for the pupil to come to a conclu- 
sion, but a project should be selected with every course in 
agriculture. While the pupil's enterprise should be the 
basis for this course, it should be broad enough to cover 
the phases of plant life in the community. 

One of the most difficult points in teaching this course is 
to give the individual instruction at the time the pupils need 
the instruction to apply to their projects as they develop. 

76 



First Year Agriculture 77 

It is a mistaken idea to give only such work as will have a 
direct bearing on the project for the pupils will need infor- 
mation about other forms of plant life, if they are to be- 
come successful agriculturalists. 

A lead pencil may be used to demonstrate the fields of 
science. If the pencil is broken, it opens the field for a 
study of physics. If it is burned, it opens the field for a 
study of chemistry. Wood is in the field of botany and lead 
in the field of geology. Any plant selected for this work is 
made up of various chemical elements, a study of which will 
bring us into the field of chemistry. So we find ourselves 
studying this subject as it is related to agriculture. For 
example, we learn that nitrogen aids in plant growth and 
we find ourselves studying nitrogen through its various com- 
pounds until it is ready to enter the plant ; or in studying 
the element, carbon, it may take us into the process of 
vegetable matter slowly decaying and finally becoming coal ; 
or so far as we need to go in order to make the element, 
carbon, understood. This plan may be followed out with 
the necessary elements that go to make up plant food. 

After studying the composition of the plant food elements 
found in the soil as well as in the air, we find that the plant 
must have a home, which brings us into the field of 
agronomy. We should then want to know how soil is 
formed, in that it is continually changing and what effect 
these changes have upon agricultural products. We find 
that the structures of plants differ, which brings us into 
the field of botany. By using the most common economical 
plants for special study, the work will be better understood. 
For example, in studying the function of stems, it may be 
visualized by studying their importance in the lumber in- 
dustry. In communities where forestry is the chief indus- 
try, the class should make a trip to see the method of cut- 
ting trees, visit the saw mill, planing mill and lumber fac- 



78 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

tories in order to see the process of manufacturing logs into 
their finished products. The method of reforesting and its 
effect upon agricultural products of the community may be 
briefly considered. A better example, where the project is 
in grain sorghum, is a study of cutting it and blowing it 
into the silo. This would not only lead to the consideration 
of the structure and use of the stem, but also to the con- 
sideration of the chemical process of changing the green 
crop into silage. This would necessitate the study of the 
silo at this point. 

The reason for continued cultivation or fallowing will 
also need to be considered. The reasons why deep cultiva- 
tion at first and shallow cultivation later, as in the case of 
growing sweet corn, for example, will need to be understood. 
This study is necessary in order to know the time and depth 
of plowing and cultivation. Since in many places it is nec- 
essary to control the moisture content of the soil, which the 
crops need, some soil will want to be cultivated deep while 
other soil will want to be cultivated shallow. The season of 
the year may also affect cultivation. The pupil will need to 
understand why some soil can not be cultivated while it is 
wet and why the moisture content differs. Since some crops, 
as alfalfa for example, need much water, science and 
methods of irrigation will need to be considered in order 
that soil moisture will not be the limiting factor in plant 
production. 

In observing the development of the project, we will 
likely find some abnormal growth which may be a disease, 
the study of which will lead into plant pathology. Or it 
may be that some insect is present, in which case we would 
need to study the source of the trouble. This would bring 
us into the study of entomology as it is related to plant life. 
We will need to study other diseases and insects in order 
to control the ones under consideration. In this way the 



First Year Agricvlture 79 

first yearns work will be broader than the project. It will 
be found that the growth of some plants will be retarded by 
other agencies which will need to be considered. Growing 
plants are changing in size, shape, and color. From the 
difference in plant development, we should go into the study 
of the causes of these changes and the effects of environ- 
ment. Since plants differ in different localities, we find a 
need for selecting those best suited to our community and 
the necessity of bettering present conditions by rotation, 
selection, and other improvements. 

In studying the structure of the leaf, we will find that 
some are palatable and are used for human consumption, 
as that of the lettuce, and some for animal food as that of 
alfalfa, while others as those of the fruit trees are used for 
a different purpose. This study brings us to consider the 
purpose for which various plants are grown and to study 
their development. This will offer a foundation for the 
needed improvement of plants, as varieties of barley, corn 
and other crops. 

The study of flowers is necessary in order to understand 
pollenization. As an example, in the various varieties of 
clover, the bee is a great factor in pollinization. In some 
fruits, as figs and almonds, it is necessary to have different 
varieties grown close enough together for cross polliniza- 
tion. This is especially true in several crops over a small 
area, which may cause cross pollinization and spoil the pure 
bred product, as in the case of planting different varieties 
of corn close together. The fruits of various plants offer a 
good field for observation, for it is by careful selection that 
the production of wheat and oats, for example, has been 
increased many fold by selecting the best for seed. In some 
cases the products are used for many purposes, as the prod- 
ucts of Indian corn, so that a certain part will need to 
be developed at the expense of the others. The seeds or 



80 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

matured fruit, as the case may be, will need to be studied 
before the value of the market product can be obtained. 

Canneries should be visited in connection with the market- 
ing of vegetables and fruits. In studying marketing of 
fruits a trip should be made to a commercial orchard if 
possible to see the process of picking, grading, packing, and 
preparation for market as well as any special process that 
is being done in a scientific way. Evaporation or drying 
process should also be studied in connection with fruits. In 
studying the seed the milling process would be better under- 
stood by visiting a large milling plant in order to see the 
process of the grain from the time it reaches the mill until 
it is manufactured into the finished products. This will 
lead to the study of the applications of commercial manu- 
facturing and physical sciences to these particular indus- 
tries. 

One of the most important aspects of the plant industry 
is the science of distribution. The economical factors in- 
fluencing the price offer a greater field for thought than 
most any other phase of agriculture. It becomes necessary 
to study the development and influencing factors of foreign 
countries, the crop failures from year to year and the im- 
provement and breeding of new varieties in order to arrive 
at a general understanding of the factors which determine 
the price one is to receive for his market products. Under 
and over production as well as speculation have a direct in- 
fluence on the supply and demand of any particular product. 

The project may consist of growing any one or more of 
the various field or vegetable crops, or caring for and har- 
vesting fruit, etc. While the project is used for the basis of 
this course, sciences are helping to illuminate the particular 
problems which are being considered. The work is developed 
by the problem method to the point where it will often be in- 
dividual instruction grouped around the pupil's particular 




STARTING A POULTRY PROJECT IN A CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL 




A PRUNIXC DKMONS'IK A IIOX 
San Juan Union High School, California 



First Year Agriculture 81 

project. This individual instruction will consist of follow- 
ing the particular crop or crops that the pupil is growing 
from planting to harvesting time. The pupil will go into 
the various phases of science in order to solve the particular 
problem at hand. Care should be taken to see that a solu- 
tion is found for the problems as they present themselves, 
so that the pupils will gain confidence in the work they are 
doing. They must learn to profit from the experiences of 
others in working their particular projects. In this way 
they will benefit by the experiences of the human race, in- 
stead of by the rule of thumb which has been practiced by a 
large number of farmers for many generations. They will 
begin to find out the various uses for their products. Since 
in modern methods of farming, emphasis is placed upon 
marketing the crop through live stock in order to maintain 
a permanent system of agriculture, they will have developed 
a need for a knowledge of the animal industry. 

Probably the greatest need in teaching these courses, is 
for the teacher to have a thorough preparation with the 
proper viewpoint. This is not possible without having 
better methods of teaching than have heretofore been put 
into practice in our schools. The adolescent mind is adapted 
to the conversational method of teaching. There should be 
an abundance of field and laboratory work. The ideal 
method for teaching these courses would be to have plenty 
of time to be used at the discretion of the teacher. It is 
probable that two periods per day is not too much for these 
courses including the study period. One period per week 
may often be used for field trips and demonstrations. It is 
preferable to have the field trip precede the other work after 
a brief explanation has been given. 

These courses require more skill in presenting than any 
other courses in vocational agriculture, because there are 
more places where the teacher may be side-tracked or not 



82 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

have his material organized in such a way that it can be 
grouped around the project and be useful to the pupil in his 
every day work with plant and animal life. 

OUTLINE FOR FIRST YEAR AGRICULTURE 

The project when selected should be used as a basis for 
the course after the general considerations have been made.) 

I. Introduction. 

A. Relative importance of the crop selected, in 
United States, in the community. 

B. Crop records of the field selected. 

C. Needs of the crop, available water supply, 
drainage, fertilizer, seed, implements, team or 
tractor, and labor. 

D. Market demands, prices expected, facilities. 

II. Soil Considerations and Plant Growth. 

A. Factors influencing weather conditions, as alti- 
tude, wind, rain, and frost. 

B. Factors influencing soil conditions, as forma- 
tion and transportation ; work of heat, wind, 
water, plants, and animals. 

C. How affected by physical conditions, as texture, 
structure, organic matter, water content, and 
temperature. 

D. How soil conditions may be improved, as by 
addition of nitrogen, potash, phosphorous, lime, 
barn yard manures, and green manure crops. 

E. Kind and amount of fertilizer needed for crop. 

F. Necessary plant food elements and the form 
they are in when absorbed by the plant. 

G. Preparation of seed bed; plowing, harrowing 
and discing; time and depth. Reason for culti- 
vation before seed is grown. Other preparation 
soil may need. 

III. Preparation of Seed. 

A. Variety best suited to the community. 

B. Treatment and testing before planting. 



First Year Agricidtwre 83 

C. Time and amount to sow, method of sowing. 

D. Test for starch and oil. 

E. Requirements for germination and growth. 

IV. The Growing Plant. 

A. The root system, how food enters the plant. 

B. Parts of plant and uses of each. 

V. Cultivation. 

A. Reasons for. 

B. Frequency and depth. 

C. Methods. , 

D. Determining factors. 

E. Implements used. 

VI. Irrigation and Drainage (where needed). 

A. Reasons for, why certain soils vary in amount 
needed. 

B. Methods, frequency and amount of water 
needed. 

C. Why drainage is necessary. 

VII. Enemies. 

A. Insects, diseases and weeds. 

B. Life history and methods of control. 

VIII. Selecting Seed. 

A. Methods, characteristics of parent plant. 

B. Characteristics of seed desired. 

C. Under what conditions stored. 

D. Value of good seed. 

E. Methods of breeding and selecting for better 
seed. 

IX. Harvesting. 

A. Time to harvest. 

B. Chemical change that takes place. 

C. Methods of hai'vesting. 

D. Implements and machinery used. 

E. Purpose for which crop is used. 



84» Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

X. Marketing. 

A. Condition of the crop which influences the price. 

B. Methods of marketing. 

C. Storage. 

D. Outlook of the crop. 
References. 

Soil and Plant Life by Mosier. 
Productive Farm Crops by Montgomery. 
Principles of Agronomy by Harris and Stewart. 
Farm Horticulture by Hood. 

ALFALFA 

(Crop for hay, forage, or seed.) 

I. Introduction. 

A. Importance of the alfalfa crop. 

B. Some alfalfa history (introduction into United 
States and state). 

C. Value as a soil builder. 

D. Place in crop rotation. 

E. The future of the alfalfa crop. 

II. Soil Conditions. 

A. Character and condition of the soil. 

B. Essentials for success in starting alfalfa. (In- 
oculation, if necessary.) 

C. Testing for acidity (use of lime). 

III. Seed. 

A. Selecting good variety. 

B. Method of securing the seed. 

C. Germination test. 

D. Amount of seed to sow to the acre. 

IV. Preparation of the Seed Bed. 

A. Plowing, harrowing, discing, times, and depth. 

B. The importance of a finely pulverized seed bed. 

V. Sowing the Seed. 

A. Time and method. 

B. Rolling after sowing. 



First Year Agriculture 85 

VI. Irrigation. 

A. Methods, amount of water to use, and fre- 
quency. 

VII. Enemies. 

A. Appearance. 

B. Life history and control of important ones. 

VIII. Harvesting. 

A. Improvement of machinery. 

B. Time to harvest for hay, seed. 

C. Methods of harvesting. 

D. Baling, storing. 

IX. Value of the Crop as Feed for Animals, as Soil Im- 
prover. 

X. Marketing. 

A. Value of feeding on the farm. 

B. Yields and profit expected. 



CHAPTER IX 

SECOND YEAR AGRICULTURE 

While the project animals selected form the core around 
which the second year's work is grouped, it is expected that 
the pupils will have some general knowledge of the animals 
in the community, when the course has been completed. It 
is often necessary to make comparisons with other animals 
in order to arrive at definite conclusions. An an example, 
by comparing cost of production, other things being equal, 
of sheep and hogs, one ma}^ decide which is the more profit- 
able to raise. Good teaching demands that the pupils 
get some fundamentals of animal life, the possibilities of 
their success by studying the expected cost of production 
and market conditions before starting their business enter- 
prises. 

The kind and type of animal, that the boy selects for his 
project, will depend upon his previous experience, his liking 
for particular kinds of animals, the amount of stock and 
equipment available. He should first get the consent of his 
parents for a project large enough to be worth while and 
not too large to utilize all his time. The opportunities 
under local conditions and the demand of the market for 
the particular animal or its product, that he desires to raise, 
should also be limiting factors. 

The boy will first need to find out the requirements of his 
stock for the purpose for which he is going to keep them. 
He will soon learn that different kinds of animals require 
different kinds of feed. This leads to a study of the com- 

86 



Second Year Agriculture 8T 

position of the body, the waste and marketable products, 
as well as the amount of energy required for digestion and 
maintenance. This leads to the application of the sciences 
connected with the laws concerning the values of various 
feeds. The pupil, for example, will learn about the digestive 
system and assimilating processes which change alfalfa into 
milk, or barley into meat and eggs. This brings up the 
whole question of digestion and assimilation. The digestive 
system of the project animals is compared with that of 
other animals in the community, as to which individual and 
which types of animals are the most economical consumers 
of feed. This leads to the type and kind of animal to select 
for the project work. It will be found that one individual 
might require more feed than another to produce the same 
results. This leads to a careful study of characteristics 
which should be pointed out at this time, calling upon every 
field of science to explain why one animal is a more economi- 
cal consumer of feed than another. The problem of feed 
leads to problems, as economically constructed types of 
buildings for housing the pupil's project animals, as bams, 
poultry and hog houses. These problems easily suggest the 
study of the best and most economical feed to raise from 
the standpoint of digestive nutrients, as well as from the 
standpoint of local climatic conditions. Some feeds will 
need to be kept in an air-tight condition which will suggest 
the use of the silo. 

The pupil has learned in the study of plants that they be- 
have differently under different conditions. This is also 
true of animals. His project animals will respond to proper 
care and treatment. This leads to the study of why some 
animals do not develop equally as well. It may be due to 
some insect or pest which can be controlled or it may be 
due to some disease or accident which may bring in the 



88 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

application of the medical sciences connected with animal 
industry. The observation of the results of the application 
of some science that might improve the condition of the 
animals, or save their lives in an epidemic like cholera or the 
foot and mouth disease, will be beneficial to the pupils. This 
may be of future use to the pupils in saving them from 
some unhappy experience due to the lack of the application 
of some science to their particular project. 

The pupils will see the need of better stock which will 
bring them into the field of selection, breeding, and im- 
provement. They will see that their animals are subject 
to certain laws which must be obeyed in building up the 
herd, drove, or flock as the case may be. 

The work leads into the application of practically every 
phase of the animal industry, in such a way as to connect it 
with every day activities of the pupil. He will learn many 
lessons from the business world, of successes as well as 
failures, often in finding a sale for his products. He will 
need to make a careful study of market conditions in order 
to have an outlet for his products. In this way he will be 
laying a foundation for the beginning of the animal industry 
for his work, if he should choose it for his profession. The 
whole field of the animal industry will be visualized and he 
will have developed initiative for his future occupation or 
profession. 

This course, if properly presented, will influence the 
pupils' likes or dislikes for raising animals. Many misfits in 
later life will be eliminated by giving the pupils first hand 
knowledge of plants and animals for a broad choice in life. 
This course lends itself to the same methods of teaching as 
that of the first year. The time for class, laboratory, and 
individual instruction should be the same as in the previous 
year. The following outline is merely suggestive, depending 
upon the project selected. 



Second Year Agricvltu/re 89 

POULTRY HUSBANDRY ( CHICKENS ) 

I. Introduction. 

A. Importance in the United States, state, and 
community. 

B. Compare with other products. 

C. Growth of the industry. 

D. Requirements for success, as good breeding, 
feeding, and sanitation. 

E. Outlook of the poultry industry. 

II. Improvement of Fowls. 

A. Advantages of a pure breed. 

B. Selection for constitution and vigor. 

C. Value of good cockerels. 

D. Advantages of good breeding. 

III. Types and Breeds. 

A. Egg, dual purpose, and meat types. 

B. Egg, dual purpose, and meat breeds. 

C. Conditions under which each would be most 
profitable. 

IV. House and Yards. 

A. Location of house and yards. 

B. Types and kinds of house plans. 

C. Construction of house and equipment. 

D. Construction of yards. 

V. Incubation and Brooding. 

A. Natural versus artificial incubation. 

B. Essentials of a good incubator; kinds. 

C. Precautions in operating an incubator (select- 
ing eggs). 

D. Special care at hatching time. 

E. Essentials of a good brooder; kinds. 

F. Care and operation of brooder. 

VI. Feeding. 

A. The digestive system. 

B. Balancing the ration (kinds of feed). 



90 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

C. Feed for growing chicks. 

D. Feed for egg production. 

E. Feed for fattening. 

Vn. Care and Management. 

A. Care and management of young chicks. 

B. " " " " growing stock. 

C. " " " « mature stock. 

D. Pests of the poultry flock. 

1. Diseases, external and internal. 

2. Causes, appearance, control of such as 
roup, scaly legs, indigestion, cholera, 
chickenpox, diarrhoea, tuberculosis. 

3. Prevention and treatment. 

4. Sanitation and disinfectants. 

5. Other pests, appearance, and control. 

VIII. Marketing. 

A. Fattening for market. 

B. Preparation for market. 

C. Marketing eggs. 
i). Storing eggs. 

E. Cooperation in shipping poultry and poultry 
products. 

F. Outlook of cooperation for the poultry industry. 

IX. If project is in other poultry it can be studied from 
the above outline. 
References. 

Poultry Keepmg by H. R. Lewis. 

Domestic Birds by J. H. Robinson. 

Poultry Culture by B. F. Kaupp. 

Standard of Perfection. 

Poultry Laboratory Guide by H. R. Lewis. 



CHAPTER X 

THIRD YEAR AGRICULTURE 

After the pupil has had a year in the study of plant life 
and a year in the study of animal industry, he will want to 
go deeper with some special problems, as in fruit industry, 
dairying, hogs, beef cattle, farm crops, vegetables, or poul- 
try on a larger commercial scale. The pupil's special in- 
terest in which he will continue his project should be chosen 
as the basis for the third year's work. Pomology seems to 
offer a great field in communities specializing in that line. 
Not a few are selecting dairying, if in a section where that 
is the major industry. The boy may want to continue his 
project of the previous year. This will necessitate his go- 
ing deeper into the subject, which is very desirable. The 
type of farming in the community is a large factor in de- 
termining the third year's project, which will be the basis 
for the course. 

The third year's course, like the preening ones, should be 
based on a seasonal sequence of the project. If it is po- 
mology, as an example, an outline should be followed for 
the developnient of the fruit industry and every phase that 
enters into the logical development of the project should 
be studied at the time that it will make the work better 
understood. This course is given more to details and the 
technical phases in which the boy is interested, than the 
preceding general courses, since one special line of industry 
is selected as the basis for the course. The work should be 
thorough and complete records kept as the course develops. 

91 



92 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agricidture 

Every angle of the industry should be considered in its re- 
lation to other industries in the community. 

The same amount of time should be given to this course 
as to the preceding ones. The method of presenting the 
work will differ only in that more time will be given to 
special phases of the industry which are most important. 
Problems will suggest themselves, reaching into other fields 
that will need to be considered, in order to properly visualize 
the industry in its relation to other industries in the com- 
munity. It is not improbable that problems will arise, which 
will require some investigation work by the pupil in con- 
sidering the problems in their larger perspective. The 
teacher should carefully plan all trips that will be necessary 
for the pupils to take so that the course will be made most 
worth while. 

OUTLINE FOR THIRD YEAR AGRICULTURE 
DAIRY HUSBANDRY 

I. Introduction. 

A. Importance of the dairy industry. 

B. Dairying as related to diversified farming. 

C. Dairying as a special industry. 

D. The demand for dairy products. 

E. The dairy type, conformation and temperament. 

1. Origin of dairy type. 

II. Study of the Breed. 

A. Outline of each important breed in the com- 
munity. Origin and history; characteristics, 
size, conformation, temperament, breed points, 
points of excellence, defects ; good individuals, 
noted for butter fat, milk and cheese ; breeders' 
organizations; adaptability, to what extent 
adapted to local conditions. 

B. Herd improvement ; methods of breeding up the 



Third Year Agriculture 93 

herd; selection of good individuals and good 
sires ; part that breeding plays in selection ; ad- 
vantages of keeping records ; value of advanced 
registry for records ; value of cooperation in 
breeding up dairy herds in the community ; cow 
testing associations. 

III. The Digestive System. 

The digestive system should be considered in de- 
tail unless it has been studied in connection with 
the work in previous years. 

IV. Care and Management. 

A. Feeding: — maintenance, growth and milk pro- 
duction ; Feeds : — concentrates, roughage and 
succulents, balanced ration, economy, nutrients 
and palatability, feeding standards for milk 
production, (value of silo), feeding cows in 
milk, when dry, feeding sire, young, summer pas- 
ture and soiling crops; water, fresh and at all 
times ; salt, amount, when given, value. 

B. Care of the dairy animal. Dehorning, methods 
and value ; care during time of calving ; milking 
machines versus hand milking; care of calves, 
sire, and dry cows; bam, size, convenience, 
light, ventilation, disposition of manure, dairy 
law requirements; value of regularity in care 
of cow; use of Babcock Test in detecting board- 
ers. 

C. Common diseases. Causes, symptoms, treat- 
ment, prevention of such as tuberculosis, abor- 
tion, milk fever, foot and mouth disease, lumpy 
jaw, scouring in calves. 

V. Milk and Milk Products. 

A. Milk room, location, construction and equip- 
ment. 

B. Milk production; process of secretion and com- 
position of milk. Cleaning cow before milking; 



94 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

proper handling of milk; milking utensils, kind 
and their care. 
C. Milk products. Use of separator, Babcock Test, 
cause for variation in cream test; care and 
handling milk; ripening cream, making butter, 
essentials as figuring overrun, determining mois- 
ture content, amount of salt to use; essentials 
of cheese making; condensed and evaporated 
milk; essentials in making ice cream. 

VI. Dairy Laws. 

A. Sanitation. 

B. Commercial milk. 

C. Diseases and disinfectants. 

VII. M^fi-keting. 

A. Necessity of a steady market. 

B. Forms of selling milk; whole milk; butter fat 
and butter. 

C. Grades of milk ; certified, guaranteed ; grade A ; 
Grade B, etc. 

D. Methods, wholesale and retail. 

E. Conditions which determine profits in each case. 
Nearness to market, cost of feeds and price of 
land or its rental value, cost of labor, use of 
surplus milk for hogs, calves, and chickens, de- 
mand of the market. 

F. Marketing through cooperative creameries and 
cheese factories. 

G. Time and method to sell surplus stock. 

VIII. The Future of the Industry. 

A. The increased demand for milk and milk 
products. 

B. The cooperation to standardize products. 

C. Educating the public to the food value of milk 
and milk products. 

D. Kind of dairy stock used and location of 
dairies. 

E. Value of state sanitary laws. 



Third Year Agriculture 95 

FEUIT INDUSTRY 

I. Introduction. 

A. Importance of the fruit industry in the United 
States, state, and community. 

B. Fruit regions of the United States. 

C. Kinds of fruit grown in different parts of the 
state. 

D. Outlook of the fruit industry. 

II. Determining Factors. 

A. Temperature, moisture, climate, and soil. 

B. Pests and diseases. 

Til. Factors Influencing Location. 

A. Distance from market. 

B. Character of soil and subsoil. 

C. Kind and amount of labor available. 

IV. The Apple. 

A. Introduction. 

1. Best varieties to plant. 

2. Varieties best adapted to community. 

B. Factors in locating the orchard. 

1. Temperature, altitude, and exposure. 

2. Soil and subsoil. 

C. Preparation of land before planting. 

1. Method of cultivation. 

2. Time and depth of plowing. 

D. Laying out the orchard. 

1. Methods. 

2. Plans. 

3. Use of fillers. 

a. Advantages and disadvantages. 

b. Varieties to plant. 

E. The young tree. 

1. Propagating in the nursery. 

2. Age and variety to plant. 

F. Preparation for planting. 

1. Distance apart. 

2. Staking off the ground. 



96 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

S. Digging holes. 

4. Preparation of trees for planting (label- 
ing and pruning). 
G. Planting the orchard. 

1. Depth. 

2. Method. 
H. Cultivation. 

1. Time and depth to cultivate. 

2. Mulch versus cover crop. 
I. Irrigation. 

1. System of irrigation. 

2. Amount of water to use. 

3. Frequency of application. 

4. Necessity for immediate cultivation. 
J. Pruning. 

1. Time and method of pruning young trees. 

2. Principles involved; as cutting above a 
bud or limb. 

3. Advantages of the open center. 

4. Pruning old trees. 

5. Tools for pruning. 
K. Enemies. 

1. Chewing and biting insects. 

a. Life history of important ones. 

b. Sprays to use and the methods of 
control. 

2. Diseases. 

a. Life history of important ones. 

b. Methods of control. 

(1). Time to spray and material 
to use. 

c. Combined spray for insects and dis- 
eases. 

d. Spray machinery. 

L. Protection from frost and freezes. 

1. Smudges; orchard heating. 
M. Apple products. 

1. Kinds and value of. 
N. Harvesting and marketing. 

1. Picking the fruit depends upon the kind 



Third Year Agriculture 97 

of fruit, where it is marketed and for 
what used. 

2. Utensils used. 

a. Necessity for hand picking. 

b. Kind of ladders. 

c. Containers used in picking. 

3. Grading and packing. 

a. Necessity for grading. 

b. Essentials of a good pack. 

(1). Must be attractive, ship 
well, and should be uniform 
in size and sound as a result 
of careful handling. 

c. The kind of equipment used in pack- 
ing. 

d. Methods of packing. 

e. Storehouse for fruit; essentials of. 

4. Marketing. 

a. Pre-cooling refrigerator cars. 

b. Commission men. 

c. Cooperative associations. 

(1). For storing and shipping 

fruit. 
(2.) Buying materials. 



CHAPTER XI 

FOURTH YEAE AGRICULTUEE 

The fourth year course in agriculture should be one which 
demonstrates managerial ability. It may be after the pupil 
has made a study of the various fields of agriculture, that 
he will want to better understand the principles upon which 
the farm is managed. This will necessitate a detailed study 
of the managing problems of the entire farm. 

The methods of keeping accounts of each branch of busi- 
ness on the farm should be studied in detail. The best 
system of book-keeping and the methods of keeping accurate 
and up to date records should be studied as well as the 
management problems in determining the rotation of crops, 
the most economical use of tractors, or horses, as well as a 
more even distribution of labor during the entire year. This 
will include checking up on the various crops and live stock 
to show which are paying and which are not. The project 
selected for this course, unless it be a continuation of the 
previous work, will be determined by the size of the farm, 
the type of farming, and the conditions under which the 
products are marketed. 

Such economic factors as the best type of farming suited 
to the community should be considered. After all the phases 
have been studied, such as topography, soil conditions, cli- 
mate, and the distance to market, the pupil will have a 
better understanding of the future outlook for the products 
selected. 

It should be kept in mind that the two greatest problems 

98 




A PROJECT HOG. Lodi, California 



'J-'^ 



'■M 



A GRAPE PROJECT. Lodi, California 




MIXING CONCRETE. Kingsbury, Califuruia 




STUDYING THE PLOW. Kmgsl.ury, California 



Fourth Year Agriculture 99 

to be considered in American agriculture are : first, the neces- 
sity of land ownership for contented labor; second, better 
trained citizens, to adjust the rural, social and economic 
problems which will enter in when adjusting the present 
prices of labor to the prices of farm products. Then more 
emphasis will be placed upon the value of standardization, 
grading, methods of selling and other market problems. 

The four years' course which should be a spiral of addi- 
tions each year, will furnish a detail analysis of the farm- 
ing business. The project should not only include a record 
of all the business transactions including a final summary of 
the year's business, but it should indicate suggested changes 
in methods of farming. It should include a reorganized 
plan of crop rotation, of the kind and number of animals 
to be kept, of additional equipment needed, conveniences for 
the farm home, and the expected financial returns under the 
reorganized plan. 

The time and method of presenting this year's work 
should be the same as in the preceding ones. When the 
pupil has finished the course in farm management, he should 
have made a thorough study of every branch connected with 
the farming enterprise. 

The following outline should serve as a basis for the 
fourth year's work: 

COURSE IN FARM MANAGEMENT 

I. Introduction. 

Ai Development of present day agriculture. 

1. Evolution of farm machinery. 

2. Improvement in ; methods of farming, farm 
equipment, soil fertility, farm crops, and 
live stock. 

B. Field of management. 

1. Meaning of subject; its scope and field. 

2. Relation to farm crops, animal hus- 



100 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

bandry, rural economics, rural organiza- 
tion, and farm life. 
3. Relation to other industries ; cooperation 
and organization. 

C. Terms used in farm management: Capital, in- 
ventory, receipts, expenses, farm income, labor 
income. 

D. Farm Book-keeping and Farm Records. 

II. Farming as a Business. 

A. Qualifications of a farmer. 

B. Capital classified. 

C. Investment; in farm, buildings, equipment, live 
stock. 

D. Running expenses, personal and farm. 

E. Profit to be expected. 

III. Kinds of Farming. 

A. Vegetable gardening ; fruit growing ; crop grow- 
ing; live stock farming; mixed stock and crop 
farming; other kinds. 

IV. Factors Influencing Farming; Land, Labor and Capi- 
tal. 

A. In relation to external conditions; soil fertility, 
climate and topography, land values, capital 
and labor, insects and diseases, individual pref- 
erences. 

B. In relation to profit to be expected, mainte- 
nance of soil fertility. 

C. Land. 

1. Value depends on location, nearness to 
market, existing economic conditions, soil 
fertility and nature, irrigation, drainage, 
and waste land. 

S. Land tenure; ownership, leasing, renting, 
share- renting. (Advantages and disad- 
vantages). 

D. Capital; fixed, circulating, in relation to under- 
taking, methods of obtaining capital, term or 
payment and interest rates. 



Fourth Year Agriculture 101 

E. Labor. 

1. Man labor; cost per day, month, year; 
compared with machine labor. 

2. Horse labor; its place and cost. 

3. Power ; oil, gasoline, water, wind, elec- 
tricity, place on farm. 

4. Management of labor; superintendent or 
foreman, employer, employee, living and 
housing conditions, (sanitation), social 
conditions and education, methods of se- 
curing labor and amount profitable. 

V. Choosing a Farm. 

A. As a business. 

B. As a home. 

C. Healthfulness. 

D. Schools. 

E. Churches. 

F. Neighbors. 

G. Markets. 

H. Size of farm; expected returns. 
I. Producing capacity; soil. 
J. Climate. 
K. Improvements. 

VI. Planning a Farm. 

A. Need of planning. 

B. Farmstead; organization, location, size, loca- 
tion of dwelling house and other buildings; re- 
modeling an old farmstead, grouping of build- 
ings to save labor; building plans. 

C. Size, number, shape of fields, relation to farm- 
stead, accessibility. 

D. Rotation system. 

E. Relation to proper records. 

VII. Equipment of Farm. 

A. Buildings; number, cost based on farm needs, 
made to increase income. 



102 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

B. Machinery and tools; what machinery and tools 
needed, time to buy, size of machinery, manage- 
ment and maintenance, depreciation. 

C. Live stock; determining kind and number, pro- 
ductive value, management, relation to soil fer- 
tility. 

VIII. Managing the Farm. 

A. Factors of management. 

1. Farm crops, farm animals, farm equip- 
ment. 

2. Best use of time, land, labor, money and 
knowledge for; profit, permanent agricul- 
ture, and country life. 

3. Advantages of rotation of crops. 

4. Advantages of permanent labor. 

5. Farm books and accounting; methods of 

accounting; simple book-keeping, single 
and double entry. What books to keep, 
farm records, how to keep farm books, 
records and accounts. 

6. Sources of inforaiation. Emphasis should 
be placed upon farm book-keeping. 

IX. Marketing. 

A. Importance of proper and timely marketing. 

B. Principles of marketing. 

C. The market supply and demand. 

D. Preparation for market. 

E. Time to sell. 

F. Methods of marketing; local store, commission 
men and houses, direct shipment, auction sales, 
cooperative organizations, basis of organization, 
advantages, and limits. 

X. Farm Life. 

A. Farm home ; size, arrangement, conveniences, up- 
to-date equipment. 

B. Schools. 



Fourth Year Agricvltwre 103 

C. Churches. 

D. Community centers. 

E. Social organization. 

F. Cooperative enterprises. 

G. Program of development for particular com- 
munity. 

XI. References. 

A. Books. 

1. Farm Mamagehnent — ^Boss. 

2. Introduction to Rural Sociology/ — ^Vogt. 

3. How to Keep Farm Accounts — Steiner. 

4. Rural Life — Galpin. 

B. Bulletins. 

1. Year books, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 
1915 to 1920, inclusive. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE FARM MECHANICS COURSE 

One of the vital problems in connection with the field of 
agriculture is for the farmer to be able to care for and 
repair his farm machinery, farm buildings, and other farm 
equipment. 

While the farm mechanics' work in most cases should be 
taught as a separate subject, it should be connected very 
closely and in many cases be a part of the home project 
work. It should include farm drawing, farm carpentry, 
farm forging, cement and concrete work, tinning, plumbing, 
soldering, pipe fitting, electrical wiring, and farm machinery 
including gas engines, tractors, and automobiles. No set 
outline can be followed in this course as every individual 
project presents its own problems in farm mechanics. Many 
of the home projects will involve the construction of a build- 
ing, laying concrete, electrical wiring, pipe fitting, tinning, 
and care and repair of most all kinds of machinery. In this 
way almost all the principles of farm mechanics will be 
brought out as the project progresses. 

Good teaching demands that the pupil be prepared when 
he comes to do actual work or that he be given instruction 
at the time needed in order to do the job instead of hiring 
part of his project work done. 

One of the first courses after mechanical drawing should 
be farm carpentry. This course should begin with an ex- 
planation of each tool to be used. Demonstrations should 
be given at the beginning of the course in order to show 

104 



The Farm Mechanics Course 105 

the proper method of handling, sharpening, and use of the 
tools used as well as the care and necessity of keeping them 
in their proper places. All tools should be standard size 
and standard makes. Joints for joints' sake have no place 
in vocational agricultural courses. 

The instructor should see that the pupils observe the fol- 
lowing steps throughout the course: 

1. Have a definite purpose in view before starting each 
job. 

2. Submit a plan drawn to a scale of each article to be 
made before attempting to construct it. 

3. Submit a complete bill of material including the cost 
of same before starting the work. 

4. The instructor should accept no piece of work that is 
not well done. 

In arranging the course, it should be so planned that each 
pupil will get experience in the fundamental operations, 
such as: boring, chiseling, cross grain and rip sawing, filing 
saws, glazing, nail setting and pulling, planing, screw driv- 
ing, mitering, tapering, painting, and sharpening by use of 
oil and stone. 

Some suggested articles that may be made in connection 
with farm carpentry work are : bee hives, brooders for chick- 
ens, farm tool boxes, feed bins, feed troughs for hogs and 
poultry, hay racks, hog hurdles, irrigation weirs and gates, 
ladders, milking stools, nail boxes, packing sheds, planting 
boards, sack holders, saw horses, self feeders for hogs and 
poultry, sheep and hog shipping crates, wheel-barrows, and 
work benches. 

In the study of concrete, permanency and initial cost 
should be compared with that of other materials. Emphasis 
should be placed upon proportion of materials and the 
necessity for thorough mixturing. This course should be 
so planned that each pupil will get as much experience as 



106 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

possible in making some of the following: walks, posts, 
floors, water and septic tanks, drain tiles, dipping vats, hog 
wallows, silos, and building foundations. 

When taking up the farm forging work, the instructor 
should begin by explaining the names and uses of the vari- 
ous tools to be used in the course. Explanation should be 
given in the care of the tools as well as the methods of 
keeping them in their proper places in the farm shop. It 
is desirable that the pupils be shown how to handle the 
various tools and how to use the fire before beginning actual 
work. No pupil should be permitted to do careless work or 
to waste materials. Habits of accuracy are to be formed as 
well as of utilizing all available material so far as possible. 
The course should be so planned that the pupils will have 
experience in the following operations: welding chain links 
or bolts, making gate hooks, comer welds, sharpening plow 
shares, making gate hinges, making cold chisels of octagon 
steel, making staple pullers, and sharpening hand tools. 

The course should be thorough enough so that the pupil 
will have developed the confidence and ability to do forge 
work when the occasion demands. 

At the present rate of inventions and improvements, it is 
necessary to have a course in farm machinery. This course 
should begin with the kind and type of machinery used in 
scientific farming. The evolution of machinery for a specific 
purpose as for harvesting wheat and how modem machinery 
has influenced the farming industry should be studied. Some 
time should be given to a study of the best machinery to 
use on the average farm. The equipment used in this course 
can largely be borrowed from an up-to-date farmer, because 
it is too expensive for the average high school to buy all 
the equipment that is needed for this course, as the equip- 
ment is used but a few times during the year. 

The class should do as much repair work as possible on 



The Farm Mechanics Course 107 

such machinery as: plows, discs, harrows, cultivators, and 
the various kinds of harvesting machinery used in the com- 
munity. It is desirable for the pupils to assemble machin- 
ery, take a part and re-adjust, in order to become familiar 
with the operation. In assembling, the name of each part 
and its use should be learned as the work progresses. 

Emphasis should be placed upon the present tendency of 
greater production per man unit, which means the use of 
the very best and latest equipped machinery. The teaching 
methods in this course should be similar to those of the 
previous courses, in that demonstrations should be given at 
the beginning in order to familiarize the pupils with the best 
methods of attacking the laboratory work. 

In the automobile and gas engine courses actual repair 
work should be done. Assembling and adjusting motors 
is good practice. All parts taken from the machine should 
be carefully marked and placed in boxes, so as to eliminate 
any chance of parts becoming lost. Have a place for every 
tool and see that every tool is found in its place before the 
class leaves the room. Neatness and order increase effi- 
ciency in eliminating time in hunting for tools. 

In the study of electricity the principles involved in the 
electrical current should be carefully considered. Some 
practical wiring should be done. Since electricity is becom- 
ing more and more important on the farm, the pupils should 
understand how to wire a building, the care and repair, and 
operation of electrical equipment. The methods in teaching 
this course will not differ from that of the other farm 
mechanics courses. With the number of inventions and im- 
provements being made in electrical equipment, it will be 
found worth while to spend much time on this subject. 

In most cases the work in farm mechanics courses should 
start as group instruction until the class is familiar with 
the proper method of handling the tools and of keeping them 



108 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agricvlture 

in their proper places. The instructor should have a defi- 
nite schedule for each practice period and see that but 
little time is wasted in assigning each pupil his definite task. 
Reference material should be well in hand before beginning 
the lesson and the pupils' specific questions that they wish 
to ask should be answered before beginning the laboratory 
work. Unless a plan is followed, much confusion and loss 
of time will be the result. The instructor should emphasize 
in the beginning that it pays to sharpen tools when they 
need it. Instruction is more difficult after the course is 
started for as soon as the fundamental principles have 
been developed the work will be mostly individual instruction. 
It not infrequently happens that some of the articles will be 
made at home and in this way the instructor will need to 
give individual help to the pupils at their home. 

The present trend of farm mechanics is taking one of 
two definite directions. One is to teach such courses as 
farm carpentry or gas engines for a semester or an entire 
year; the other is by short unit courses in the main subjects 
until the pupils have familiarized themselves with the princi- 
ples underlying the courses and then follow the mechanics 
of the project worik, applying the principles whenever 
needed. As an example of the latter, in constructing a poul- 
try house they would do drawing, carpentry work, concrete 
work, forging, pipe fitting, and electrical wiring. It is for 
this reason that the teacher should be familiar with every 
branch of farm mechanics. Mistakes in this course are often 
expensive and this is why farm mechanics is coming to be a 
required course. 

In many cases this work requires a teacher with a co- 
operative mind for much of the material may need to be 
borrowed from other departments. In many states a sepa- 
rate course is given in mechanical drawing, wood working, 
cement, farm forging, gas engines, automobiles, and farm 



The Farm Mechanics Course 109 

machinery by teachers in other departments. In schools 
where this method is followed, the farm mechanics that is 
given by the teacher of agriculture will be only in connection 
with the home project. 

Wlien farm mechanics is given as a separate course it is 
preferable that two consecutive laboratory periods be given 
to the work for best results. The method of presenting it 
offers a different field in that there is more individual in- 
struction. Care should be taken to see that each pupil 
gets the fundamental principles in farm mechanics in his 
high school course, and is able to do the ordinary care and 
repair work of the machinery used in connection with his 
farm a^ctivities. 



CHAPTER XIII 

COOPERATIVE RURAL ORGANIZATIONS 

Since the beginning of agricultural activities in the United 
States, organizations by many different names have sprung 
into existence. Those that have best fulfilled their mission 
have survived, while many have been short lived. The early 
idea was to have large organizations, while now we believe 
in small groups as part of the general organization work- 
ing for the needs at hand. The purpose of rural organiza- 
tion is to pave the way for greater progress in community 
industries and activities. By means of organization greater 
cooperation can bring about a more useful, a more pros- 
perous, and a more contented community. There is danger 
of a community having so many organizations that some 
will not properly function. It is better to have a few and 
have them working to their full capacity. 

One of the oldest farmers' organizations, which still sur- 
vives in many places is the Grange, organized in New York 
in 1868. It had a most phenomenal growth for a few 
years and was the forerunner of many organizations which 
have since sprung into existence. The Grange had for its 
purpose in the beginning the social improvement of its mem- 
bers, but soon went into cooperative buying in wholesale 
quantities and distributed to its members in the community. 
Thousands sought financial betterment under the order while 
others sought political ambitions so that many of the 
granges organized about this time failed. It began to revo- 
lutionize the life of the communities, but it has had its 

110 



Cooper at vve Rural Orga/nizations 111 

struggles. The Grange is still the leading organization in 
many places. 

The Farmers' Institute had its beginning in the Phila- 
delphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture in 178'5. 
It was called "Farmers' Clubs" in Maine in 1843. As early 
as 1903 the Farmers' Institute was recognized by the na- 
tional government by the appointment of a farm institute 
specialist in the Department of Agriculture. He gave his 
entire time to organizing and rounding up institutes and 
in giving special assistance to its members. 

Community Center Meetings were organized in some places 
while the Grange was still connected with political parties. 
Its meetings were held at a central point in the community 
for the purpose of discussing actual problems along the lines 
of special crops, animals, or other community interests and 
activities. These meetings were often of a social nature. 

The Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work, which 
was started by Seaman A. Knapp, of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, did not progress very rapidly 
through mature men, so he tried having boys raise an acre 
of cotton or com for demonstrational purposes. This ex- 
tended to the school children and in 1908 it was started 
under the name of "Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs." 
The Girls' Demonstration Club was started in 1910. 
In two years the boys had an enrollment of 69,000 and the 
girls 23,000. The work consists of demonstrations to show 
what can be done in the community under scientific man- 
agement. The Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs are 
conducted on a competitive basis and various prizes have 
been offered as a reward for efficient work. These agricul- 
tural clubs have done much toward laying the foundation 
for vocational agriculture. 

The Farm Bureau Center is an organization of farmers 



112 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

who have combined to investigate their fundamental prob- 
lems and to promote the agricultural interests through 
cooperative study of farm conditions. This organization 
is the amalgamation of other associations in many places. 
While the working plan differs in many states, the princi- 
ples are the same. The organization consists of local farm 
bureaus which meet at least once a month. One local repre- 
sentative meets with the county farm bureau once a month 
and the county representative meets once a year with the 
state organization. A state representative meets yearly 
with representatives of other states. The county organiza- 
tion often has to meet with them a Farm Advisor, who is a 
representative of the state and Federal Government, and 
who is the county agent or farm demonstrator as he is 
sometimes called. He gives advice or gets information for 
the farmers, aids in cooperative organizations, investiga- 
tions, and demonstrations. There are 501 farm bureau 
centers in California alone. The farm bureau is interested 
not only in all agricultural questions, but in social, econom- 
ical, and educational problems as well. This organization 
known by its various names in the different states, is filling 
a real need in bettering rural life. 

The District Fair is another organization which meets 
yearly in many sections. Samples of the crops are dis- 
played at the fair and ribbons awarded for the best. Not 
infrequently farm experts from the College of Agriculture 
or others are there to discuss various lines of agricultural 
interests in that section. This has also had an educational 
value and is combined with the schools in order that they 
too may have an opportunity to exhibit their products. 
The b€st products from the district fair will be exhibited 
at the county fair, which is the stepping stone to the State 
Fair. 

Where rural organizations are well conducted they are 




THE ROAD WHEN THE COUNTY FARM AD\ ISEli FIRST CAME 
la Tennessee 




THE SAME ROAD AFTER A YEAR OF COOPERATION 




A COMMUNITY PLAY 




AN ATTRACTIVE HOME 



Cooperative Rural Organizations 113 

a great asset to the community in increasing production, 
in providing better protection from diseases and insect pests, 
and the community has a better system of marketing its 
products. We find many organizations, such as grain 
growers', dairying, live stock, and fruit growers' associations 
in various parts of the United States. Some organizations 
are speciahzed as the honey producers, butter makers, grain, 
cotton, and citrus fruit growers. By means of organization 
their products have been standardized. The producers in 
this way can do collective bargaining in both selling and 
buying. They often do their own experimental work. The 
most effective organizations are those that deal with small 
groups as a branch of a larger organization, such as the 
Apple Growers of Oregon or the Prune Growers' Association 
of California. 

By enlarging the individual's usefulness the entire com- 
munity is made more efficient. As an example, in fighting 
an insect pest of fruit, it would be useless for just one 
farmer in the community to spray unless his neighbors did 
likewise. But by cooperation with his neighbors, the entire 
community may be rid of the insect pest. 

The school is likewise a cooperative enterprise in educa- 
tional affairs. By consolidation of rural schools, better 
buildings may be erected, better teachers secured, better 
equipment installed, and more efficient work will be done in 
developing the child. The school will also be the place for 
lectures, school festivals, farmers' short courses, and for 
gatherings which promote education in the community. 
Leaders will be developed to direct community activities, 
which will influence the making of more useful citizens as 
well as better farmers. 

The rural church is another great factor that has done 
much to elevate the moral and intellectual development in 
rural communities. It has been the experience that where 



114* Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

there are several churches the interests in the community 
will often be divided into groups or cliques, which is detri- 
mental to progress. In a community where the people are 
becoming broad-minded and united, there is need of a real 
rural church with a progressive leader. Where people asso- 
ciate together and discuss the better needs of life, the com- 
munity is sure to establish a higher standard of living and 
higher ideals, which will go to make for scientific agriculture 
on a broader and more progressive scale. The lesson of 
cooperation is also brought out in the social activities con- 
nected with the rural church development. 

The teacher's place in community gatherings should be 
that of usefulness. When there is an opportunity to work 
through one or more of these organizations to further his 
agricultural work, it should not be overlooked. Usually the 
strongest men in the community are the ones to take a great 
or the greatest part in some of the better organizations. 
The teacher should not assume the responsibility of man- 
aging, but should be a help wherever possible. He should 
stand behind the people of the community in the organiza- 
tions for the betterment of all types of agricultural work. 
It is often much better for him to raise a few animals or 
grow some fruit, or whatever the cooperative organization 
is marketing. Thus he will be in closer touch with the 
leaders of the organization and will be in a better position 
to furnish the information which the school children should 
receive. In this way he may be of service to the community 
in which he is working. 

One of the best lessons in rural cooperative organization^ 
to be found in any country before the recent war was that 
of Denmark. After the German War of 1864, it, like other 
European countries, was in dire distress in political, social, 

* Faber's Cooperatwe Organizations in Denmark, 



Cooper at we Rubral Organizations 115 

and economical conditions. Not only has the land been a 
basic factor in the upbuilding of Denmark but the remark- 
able school system has had an unwielding influence. The 
war crippled and almost bankrupted this little country but 
within two generations it has taken an honorable place 
among the producing nations of Europe. Its agriculture 
is unexcelled in production from the soil, and in distribution 
of the manufactured products in the markets of the world. 
Denmark has less than 15,000 square miles or is about 
one-third the size of Pennsylvania, with a population of 
about 3,000,000. 

Since 61 per cent of its people live in the country, it 
indicates that a large degree of prosperity and contentment 
is found in the rural districts. The Danish farmer has 
solved the market problem and is able to place his products 
upon the world's markets to good advantages. There are 
over 1,400 cooperative stores in Denmark. In addition to 
these, many scores of societies are formed for the joint pur- 
chase of feed stuff, fertilizer, farm implements, and neces- 
sary clothing. The cooperative dairies and cheese factories 
have given the Danish farm industry a wide name. One 
dairy alone receives the milk from 1,200 cows. In 1915 
about 2,000,000 hogs were slaughtered in the cooperative 
bacon factory. Government breeding centers have been a 
great help to the live stock industry. 

Large land holders and the day of land-lordism are 
things of the past in Denmark. Low rates of interest and 
long time payments on the amortization plan have solved 
the land question. The rural credit system has made it 
possible for 75,000 families to become land owners and any 
person twenty-five years of age, who can satisfy the govern- 
ment as to his character, may secure a piece of land and 
pay for it at from three to three and a half per cent inter- 



116 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

est. The Danish motto is "Use all the land and abuse 
none." It was found that only two per cent of the large 
cooperative association members live in cities. When the 
great cooperative dairies were formed, the farmers pledged 
themselves to furnish a given amount of milk for a specified 
number of years. In the same way the Danish people 
promised to furnish a definite number of hogs for a specified 
number of years. 

Egg production is the third most important industry. 
The poult rymen themselves handle only fresh candled eggs. 
Their reputation is unquestionable. The peasantry land 
ownership has made wonderful changes, bringing the country 
from a condition of national bankruptcy to her present 
place. 

The schools furnish broad culture and thorough tech- 
nical preparation to every man, woman, and child living in 
its rural districts. The spirit of cooperative enterprise is 
instilled into the school youth and put into practice when 
he becomes a man. It was in the disastrous war period of 
1864 that the first folk high school had its beginning. These 
schools have disseminated among country folk a broad gen- 
eral culture in order to see the world in its large perspective. 
The schools have helped these people to think and to reason 
for themselves. The cooperative work has taught them to 
trust one another in working together for the common good. 
Their entire organization has been accomplished by the 
intelligent farmers after they have had thorough training. 
Their keynote has been extreme thoroughness in their pre- 
paratory work. The Danish farmer not only knows what 
he is doing but why he is doing it. 

The elementary schools of Denmark emphasize the funda- 
mental school subjects in a thorough-going fashion and at 
the same time the study of the soil and its products have 



Cooperative Rural Organizations 117 

not been neglected. Even the elementary schools begin with 
part time class room instruction and part time practice out- 
side work. After leaving the elementary school, physical edu- 
cation in the form of practical work is kept in the foreground 
for the next four years. The boys usually work on model 
farms until they reach the age of eighteen when they attend 
high school. The Danish country boy leaves the elementary 
school at the age of fourteen to work on these farms. From 
eighteen to twenty is the period spent in the high school 
where emphasis is placed on the cultural side before he 
finishes his agricultural work. 

The aim of these high schools is to develop broad-minded, 
moral citizens; to foster a deep-seated love for the soil of 
their own native land; to give them a correct outlook on 
agricultural life; and to lay a broad foundation for tech- 
nical subjects to be pursued in agricultural schools. The 
boys usually attend the school in winter and the girls in 
summer. Free instruction often ceases after the elementary 
schools, which are compulsory. Natural science is given 
special attention in their agricultural schools. The curri- 
culum is not so different from that of our junior college ex- 
cept that some emphasis is put on the practical side. After 
these schools come the special schools, such as the dairy 
school. Here is where the special work is done. The students 
and faculty eat their meals together and associate with each 
other during play hours. The school is in session six days 
per week. Practically all technical schools have a large 
farm where they give special training in the particular line 
that some would want to follow. The amount of time spent 
in these schools depends upon the degree of efficiency desired 
and the mental capacity of the student for that power. 
The result of this type of school training has led to co- 
operation and has caused first, the yield per acre to be in- 



118 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

creased; second, the country has been improved; third, the 
cost of production has been decreased ; fourth, better prices 
have been obtained. 

The greatest result of high school training has been that 
it puts the mind in a condition to render capable service 
and to receive and profit by expert specialists. This is in 
contrast with the greater part of the American farmers, 
who loathe to listen to expert advice regarding new adjust- 
ments. The people of Denmark are trained in reading 
habits, to have open minds, and to respect expert advice. 
It is for this reason that the cooperative societies have the 
common good socially as well as commercially. The schools 
insist upon adaptation of both mind and health. They 
believe that broad culture provides better equipment for 
the young farmer. There is no lecturing in their school 
system, on account of the strong personality of the high 
school teachers. One secret of their schools is that they 
have well trained teachers, who are employed for a long 
tenure in the same community. The teacher is considered a 
real leader; he has a school farm of several acres, a home, 
and a good salary. They believe that the teachers should 
not have a vocational school, but a school of general cul- 
ture, introducing vocational culture as the opportunity is 
offered. 

The success of the Danish rural people is due to: first, 
land tenure; second, rigid enforcement of preparation in' 
special phases of agricultural work; third, a highly spe- 
cialized school system. The American people may leam 
from the Danish school system the lesson of thoroughness 
as well as preparation for better citizenship. The Danish 
youths are taught the subjects and the whys underlying 
scientific farming instead of cramming their memories with 
languages and higher mathematics as has been done in our 



Cooperative Rural Organizations 119 

American schools. The boys there would resent the dead 
languages in the words of Wilson, our National Grange 
Master, when he said: 

All those are dead who spoke it, 
All those are dead who wrote it, 
All will die who try to learn it. 
Blessed death, they surely earn it. 

The schools are thorough in their training in giving the 
boy the adolescent period in which to learn the practical 
side of agriculture at home, and then specializing after he 
has cultural training, so that he is worth much to the rural 
community of which he is to be a part. 

Our industrial movement in vocational work, especially in 
agriculture, is approaching the lines in which Denmark has 
been going for the last forty years. We are beginning to 
learn that the Danish people found out that as the training is 
so will the man be and that if a rural man is to do scientific 
work and cooperate to sell his products, and be socially 
influential in the state, he must be trained for these things 
during his school life. We must have a better type of 
teacher, one who has the vision and who is employed for 
a long tenure of time; one who is willing to put his best 
into the training of young men and women, if we expect 
within the next generation to even accomplish the coopera- 
tion and to make as useful a citizen as Denmark has made. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE TEACHER OF AGRICULTURE 

Since one of the greatest handicaps to successful agri- 
cultural work in the schools has been the lack of prepara- 
tion of the teacher, it is well to look into the elements 
which should go to make up his preparation. Efficiency in 
any line of work means producing the maximum results 
with the least amount of time, energy, and money. Scien- 
tific management in school would then mean the most eco- 
nomical adjustment of all forces toward a definite end. The 
teacher's greatest efficiency is in doing the highest grade of 
work for which his natural ability has best fitted him. The 
characteristic forces influencing life are the intellectual, 
social, aesthetic, moral, and religious. Without the- develop- 
ment of all these characteristics, the teacher would not be- 
come a thoroughly education man. The goal in education, 
then, is to produce the least amount of waste in securing 
a liberal education. This should be the foundation for 
study in any occupation or profession, in order that one 
may get the class of work that he can do the best, so as 
to bring him the greatest prosperity and happiness in living 
a more valuable and useful life. 

The agricultural teacher's education is one continuous 
process from the cradle through life. At first the child's 
mind is a blank with certain inborn tendencies. His first 
impressions are made by observing differences, probably be- 
tween his nurse and his mother. He begins to think as soon 
as he loses his tin rattler because there is need for thinking. 

120 



The Teacher of Agriculture 121 

He is forming his apperceptive basis as soon as he begins 
to have experiences. If left to his own choosing, even with 
all the surplus energy which soon develops, he would follow 
the line of least resistance. In this way he would profit by 
trial and error instead of by the experiences of the human 
race. Our surroundings have a direct influence upon our 
development, even at an early age. It is for this reason 
that the child's environment should be carefully selected. 
Habits are easily formed and when once established they are 
hard to change. Impressions are continually being made 
and influences formed for the child's apperceptive basis to 
be used as the occasion demands. All forces that come into 
contact with a child's life have an influence on his educa- 
tional development. The kind and amount of food that he 
eats, and magazines and books that he reads, all have a 
direct influence. The home, the school, the society that he 
enters, and the occupation that he follows have a direct 
influence in shaping his life. The moral standard of the 
home should not be overlooked, as it is under the parents' 
roof that about one-half the time is spent until the child is 
nearing the high school age. It is rightly said, "Show me 
the child's associates made by his own choosing and I will 
show you the kind of a man he is going to be." 

If the school fails to prepare the pupil for the present, 
the immediate future, and for life in the society of which 
he is to be a member, it cannot justify its existence. The 
early training must be broad enough to form the founda- 
tion as a basis for the teacher's professional activities. 
He must have developed breadth of culture, both to enrich 
his own life and the lives of those with whom he will come 
in contact. These inborn tendencies begin to show them- 
selves through the difl'erent instincts and need to be directed. 
Some should be suppressed and kept dormant, as pugnacity, 
while others as play, should be developed. The keynote of 



122 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agriculture 

the plant kingdom is the adaptation to its environment. 
Man does the same thing. He needs food, clothing, 
and shelter. If he is to become a leader, as the teacher of 
agriculture is sure to be, his environment will be largely 
what he makes it. Some of his worthy instincts will be 
more pronounced in the adolescent period when he will dream 
dreams and see visions of some successful enterprise of 
which he is to be the instrument in directing the forces to 
bring it about. The academic preparation comes in that 
plastic period of life when rapid mental growth is taking 
place through new adjustments. Habit forming is rapidly 
taking place and it is the schooFs business to develop the 
power of appreciation of nature and its mysteries. The 
cultural value should not be overlooked, even though it 
comes through but three channels, namely, factors of iden-* 
tical elements, principles of habit formation, and giving 
action to the brain. All teaching is cultural in proportion 
to the extent that it is in store for usefulness. All instruc- 
tion is disciplinary to the extent that it renders the pupil 
efficient to use what he has learned. In the academic prepa- 
ration, if tables are to be learned, the pupil should learn 
them thoroughly. He should commit poetry verbatim, if it 
is to be memorized, and he should get facts definitely fixed 
in his mind. He should memorize names accurately and 
speak the English language as fluently as possible. Good 
habits well established make for progress. For our example, 
we look to the Roman youth who was trained in obedience, 
seriousness, and reverence. He was trained like the postage 
stamp, — to stick until he got there. Much valuable time 
and hard earned money have been wasted in our system of 
education, because it was not directed toward a definite end. 
This waste will be largely eliminated by better trained teach- 
ers and by supervised study. 

It will be to the prospective teacher*s advantage if he has 



TJie Teacher of Agriculture 123 

attended a consolidated school. This school should pre- 
ferably be in a rural community which will give him a better 
opportunity for coming in contact with farm life in the 
open country. He is more likely to develop initiative by 
association with others of his own age as well as to develop 
leadership where he has room to play various games. Here 
his activities will be directed so as to watch the trend of 
his natural inclinations. He should not attend a special 
school, not even a special agricultural school, for the range 
of subjects and the association there will not give him the 
breadth of culture and will not tend to make him fitted for 
usefulness other than his chosen occupation or profession. 
Nature study should be planned so as to start from the most 
elementary phase, as the daisy or robin and go to the more 
complex until agriculture has been reached in the seventh or 
eighth grade. This elementary work should be a well 
planned course of related material developed step by step 
to fit the child's life. The illustrations should fit into his 
life at the time they are being given. This work should be 
presented in story form in the child's own language. 

The lady-bird will no longer be studied for its beauty, but 
as a destroyer of harmful insects. The large and attractive 
adults of the Cecropia and Sphinx moths are now to be 
studied to show that the larvae of one makes silk and that 
of the other eats the tomato plant. The elementary school 
gardens should later become community gardens with indi- 
vidual plots. Experience has proven that this work should 
be directed by a well prepared teacher for it is designed 
to have its full educational value and to become a part of 
the child's experience. The best of the products may be 
exhibited at the district fair where ribbons are awarded to 
the most energetic and painstaking youths. 

In the high school work enough English should be re- 
quired so that the pupil will be able to express himself 



124 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

forcefully in conversation and clearly on paper. Because 
the farm applications of science are emphasized is not suffi- 
cient reason for other subjects being neglected. In the 
adolescent period the mind is easily receptive and the great 
masterpieces in literature, if wisely chosen because of their 
nearness to nature, will aid the pupil in appreciating the 
bigness of his own surroundings. Each composition should 
be made a writing lesson, as it is known that fifty-seven per 
cent of the business men do not write a legible hand. Sub- 
jects for composition work should be chosen largely from 
the pupil's experience and should be something that is prac- 
tical and related to rural life. Physics, chemistry, and 
biology should be used in making the practical applica- 
tions of science to the project and to the pupil's every-day 
activities. Mathematics should not be required because it 
develops the mind only, but because of its direct applications 
in solving the problems useful in his every-day life. In its 
terms we measure distances and count dollars. Farm ac- 
counting is included because society should permit no boy 
or girl to reach manhood or womanhood before they have 
learned to keep an accurate account of their business trans- 
actions. Music should be taught so that the pupils will 
appreciate singing in school as well as in other social gather- 
ings. To develop a strong mind in a strong body justifies 
requiring physical training. Hygiene and sanitation should 
be studied for personal cleanliness. 

History should be studied from an industrial instead of 
a political standpoint. It should concern itself with the 
progress of people and industry instead of the rise and fall 
of kingdoms and dynasties. The study of America's great 
movements should be made with particular attention to the 
development of social, economical, and political institutions 
and their effect upon American progress. Some English 
and European history should be included in order to form 



The Teacher of Agricultwre 125 

a background for our social, economical, and agricultural 
development, as a study of the conditions under which the 
Shorthorn cattle and the Percheron horses were developed. 

Farm mechanics should be practical work, such as making 
a self-feeder for hogs, brooder for poultry, poultry or hog 
houses, care and repair of farm machinery, farm imple- 
ments, and other farm equipment. When the boy can 
see that his finished products are useful, he is developing 
the mind and the hands to work together. He will under- 
stand the value of skill in making them as well as the value 
of dollars in hours of labor. When a four year course in 
agriculture has been completed, the pupil should have a 
pretty thorough knowledge of all the farming activities in 
the community. The principles used in this work can be 
applied at different times in every-day life. By taking a 
project each year, a boy will study the "bread and butter" 
aim of vocational education. The course in agriculture in 
two schools should be similar insofar as the conditions sur- 
rounding the two conmiunities are the same. The pupil 
should not spend all his time in agriculture, for if he should, 
he would be technically trained instead of being educated. 

The high school graduate's efficiency will not go far be- 
yond what he is prepared to do. He will, however, have 
formed habits of politeness, cleanliness, obedience, honesty, 
helpfulness, industry, and of using his creative power in 
getting some joy and happiness from life. He will be better 
fitted for efficient service, regardless of his chosen occupa- 
tion or profession. 

The time will come when all agricultural colleges will 
require practical work in the major activities of farming 
enterprises, part of which may be secured by working during 
the summer vacations. The first two years of the college 
course should be largely prescribed because many subjects 
are new and in selecting from them the student is likely to 



126 Methods of Teachmg VocatioTval Agriculture 

lose sight of the forest for the trees, and follow the line 
of least resistance. His professional training is still in the 
initial stage for the boundary line is seldom drawn twice in 
the same place. He should have seen the heart of the differ- 
ence in choosing his calling, in that a trade is followed by the 
fundamental lines of nature and that the efficient profes- 
sional man must go behind the rule of thumb. The princi- 
ples can not be gotten like pouring kerosene into a can, but 
by continual applications of the artistic and the practical. 
The student needs not only a knowledge of the fundamental 
science for a background, but he needs to be versed in the 
past and present economic conditions so as to take part in 
preparing for future citizenship. He should be made to 
see that it is better to have a course in each of the funda- 
mental branches of agriculture for his background. He 
should have a major for specializing and a minor in one or 
two subjects. This insures adequate preparation for sub- 
ject matter and gives him a more cultural background for 
solving original problems. 

One's knowledge needs unification to make him socially 
efficient. A cone composed of intensive study of at least a 
few subjects is necessary for this unification. As an exam- 
ple, the student should have mathematics enough to aid in 
the mechanical solutions in chemistry and physics. He 
should have work in biology, geology, and physical geog- 
raphy as a background for agriculture. He should have 
work in education in order to see the fundamental need of 
a logical presentation of a lesson. He should have a knowl- 
edge of the development of the vocational situation in the 
history of education so as to know the proper relation 
of the high school to the elementary school and to the 
university. He should have a knowledge of educational 
psychology with emphasis placed upon the development of 



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The Teacher of AgricuLture 127 

the adolescent mind. He should know something of the 
principles of education, of vocational aim, of processes and 
methods, and of their values with emphasis on teaching 
agricultural subjects. His work in agricultural economics 
should acquaint him with the present everj-day problems 
that our country is facing in readjustment. He should have 
rural sociology in order that he may better understand the 
principles involved in developing rural life and rural citizen- 
ship. By being well grounded in the technical courses in 
agriculture, he will be able to express himself at any time. 
Practice teaching should not be measured in number of 
hours, but in terms of efficiency. This work should be done 
under normal conditions and supervised by one who is an 
expert in teaching agriculture. He should also be given 
practice in supervising home projects. His thesis should 
be an original problem which will benefit him in his future 
work. He should have knowledge of psychology to under- 
stand the connection between basal and professional sub- 
jects. This training will fit him to teach agriculture that 
will be useful, have the necessary discipline, and be cultural. 
The teacher should be trained so that he will have an avoca- 
tion for enjoyment in order that his leisure time will be 
wisely spent. He must remember that teaching consists of 
imparting knowledge and not merely the passing out of 
unrelated facts. 

Some personal qualifications are also necessary for suc- 
cess. Being reared in a rural community gives him knowl- 
edge for first hand information in nature's kingdom. The 
toacher should be a born leader and organizer, a close 
observer, a student of human nature, and possess a strong 
personality. He should be well poised, not easily excited, 
a good mixer, kind in disposition, sincere in purpose, in- 
dustrious, enjoy fun, and be happy on most all occasions. 



128 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

He should have the ability to adapt himself to his surround- 
ings. His laboratory will then be the picturesque hills and 
the cultivated fields. His problem in class is one of emphasis 
and elimination in subject matter in teaching the needs and 
functions of the plants and animals and how these needs are 
satisfied. He should cultivate the habit of accuracy, abso- 
lute dependableness, clearness in thinking, and of being on 
time. He must have a cooperative spirit, must be firm but 
honest, fair to each child, and be prejudiced against noth- 
ing. He should be able to interpret the past, see the present, 
and think into the future. He can then organize his ma- 
terial in terms of the child's experience instead of the sub- 
ject matter. He will be able to stimulate the mind rather 
than cram the memory. He should learn to economize time 
by making assignments clear, definite, attractive, and not 
too long. He should have a problem in each lesson and 
develop it. The questions asked should be thought provok- 
ing in leading the pupils to reason towards the conclusion. 
Any teacher who does not give his pupils an opportunity 
to think out their own problems, is preparing for them a 
rapid elimination from school. Results of poor teaching are 
like results of poor workmanship in that they are expen- 
sive. The well prepared teacher emphasizes crop rotation 
and tried varieties until new ones have proven to be of more 
value than those now raised. He will emphasize the value 
of improving live stock by better breeding, selection and 
care. He will emphasize the fact that an increase of live 
stock increases soil fertility and that it is not what one 
makes, but what one saves that counts. 

When the teacher takes an inventory of himself and finds 
that he has rural mindedness, understands the learning pro- 
cess and the problems of adolescence, has ability to tell how 
and why, he will be prepared to be a teacher of young men 



The Teacher of Agrictdture 129 

and women instead of a teacher of a particular subject. 
The results of his efficiency can largely be judged by the 
agricultural enterprises in the community and by the broad 
visions of his people. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 

The future of agricultural education will depend upon 
the type of teachers who enter the profession and upon the 
kind and amount of training that is given them. With 
close cooperation between the state supervisors of agricul- 
tural education and the teacher training institutions, more 
efficient plans will gradually be worked out. With a greater 
opportunity for community service and with increased sal- 
ary, the teaching profession will be more attractive to the 
better class of teachers. Commercial firms are realizing 
more and more that increased efficiency in their business 
means employing higher priced specialists. What is true 
in the commercial world is true in teaching vocational agri- 
culture. 

By requiring practical farm experience before entering 
the profession, there is a tendency to select only those who 
can appreciate the high school pupil's point of view in con- 
ducting his project work. 

The author's experience in training teachers for voca- 
tional agriculture at the University of California, at the 
University Farm School located at Davis, California, be- 
ginning during the recent war, is conclusive that the project 
method is the type of training best suited to their needs. 
The University of California is operating a farm at Davis 
of a thousand acres, which offers a good opportunity to try 
out project work in connection with training teachers. 

130 



The Future of Agricultural Education 131 

Each division as, animal husbandry, poultry husbandry, 
pomology, olericulture, etc., is provided with land and 
equipment for practical work. 

One of the requirements in training the future teachers 
of agriculture should be that unless they have had sufficient 
successful farm experience, that they conduct a plant or 
animal project in connection with their training. For 
example, the student-teacher has had practical experience 
in all the general fields of agriculture except in the swine in- 
dustry. His project should then be in feeding for pork 
production or raising pigs to market age, which work would 
be correlated with the class instruction in swine husbandry. 
Since the student-teachers assume financial responsibility 
of their projects, arrangements should be made so that they 
can borrow money for this purpose at the legal rate of 
interest and carry on a project during the entire year in 
connection with the class work. Close supervision by a well 
qualified person who is in sympathy with this type of work 
should be given. The methods used and records kept give 
the student-teacher the best type of training for his future 
work. It has been found that eight or ten pigs make a 
splendid pork production project or about three sows se- 
cured before farrowing time. About ten breeding ewes 
secured in the fall make a good sheep project. From a 
hundred to a hundred-twenty-five laying hens make another 
very desirable project in connection with this training work. 

A small area of bearing fruit leased for a year is satis- 
factory. Most all vegetables grown on a commercial scale, 
as cabbage, sweet com, potatoes, etc., can be made satis- 
factory. One of the best projects thus far tried out by the 
author to test the managerial ability and manipulative 
skill was that of handling fourteen acres of alfalfa. This 
project consisted of testing the soil for amount of water 



132 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

needed, irrigating, harvesting, marketing the crop, hiring 
extra help, and keeping records of all the business transac- 
tions. 

In some sections growing vegetables would not be so satis- 
factory where the student-teacher leaves before the crop is 
harvested. It is desirable for the teacher trainer to have 
full charge of the projects unless the division concerned is 
entirely in sympathy with this type of work. The records 
kept by the student-teacher should be submitted to the 
teacher training class for discussion and criticism, if the 
project is taken at the same time that the Methods class 
is given. Each member of the training class should have 
the opportunity of visiting the projects at frequent inter- 
vals. The members of the class listen to the discussions of 
each other's projects and in this way are preparing them- 
selves for future activities. A very valuable lesson is the 
study of market quotations, in order to get the best prices 
obtainable for the products. The author once had a stu- 
dent-teacher who reported a decline in the hog market of a 
half cent per pound. By keeping his hogs two weeks longer 
they were sold for three-fourths of a cent per pound more 
than otherwise would have been received. Another example 
was that of a student-teacher taking advantage of a -threat- 
ened decline in the price of cabbage, receiving twenty dollars 
more per ton by selling early. When the student-teachers 
in the class get the benefit of such experiences as these, they 
will be better prepared to aid their high school pupils with 
marketing problems. 

This type of training strengthens their weak points in 
preparation by coming in contact with many different lines 
of practical work. By having a written contract, stating 
the details of the project and having it signed by all parties 
concerned, it gives the student-teachers experience in legal 




TEACHERS HOME IN A RURAL COMMUNITY 

RoUo, Illinois 




EARLY TRAINING IN LIVE-STOCK PRODUCTION 



The Future of Agricultural Education 133 

transactions. They are doing a type of work similar to 
that which they will soon be called upon to supervise. 

This type of work does not lessen the amount of class 
work and laboratory instruction, but utilizes more of the 
leisure time. The student-teacher is putting into practice 
the things learned in the class room so as to be better 
equipped to direct future activities. 

The future of agricultural education is tending more and 
more toward the actual method of learning by doing when 
the student-teacher will have had sufficient practical farm 
experience. It must be remembered that in securing an 
education, one must go behind the rule of thumb in study- 
ing the underlying principles. It is for this reason that the 
teacher needs a strong background in the biological sciences. 
There is danger also that the underlying principles may be 
sacrificed for the practical side. The bread and butter aim 
is not all of an education. We must go into the underlying 
principles and see the reasons for the productive enterprises 
that are being carried on. The future training schools will 
establish new precedence in their methods of approach. 
Many of the outlines of the courses in agriculture sub- 
mitted in the future will be made on the job analysis plan. 
That is, pulling out every job connected with each phase 
of the enterprise, as the work develops. Efforts will con- 
tinue to be made to get the maximum efficiency with the 
least amount of waste in securing an education. As new 
training schools develop, land will be made available for the 
student-teachers to actually do project work. Conditions, 
as nearly as possible, will be made similar to the actual life 
on the farm. A more efficient method of keeping records 
will be worked out by some genius. More scientific methods 
of teaching will continue to be put into practice. More 
and more emphasis is being placed on the proper method of 



134 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriculture 

instruction and on the best methods of supervising home 
project work. The teachers trained in the future will have 
a degree in agriculture plus practical farm experience. As 
the standard for certification in the various states is con- 
tinually being raised, only the better prepared teachers 
will qualify for vocational agriculture. 

It is imperative that a good system of placing teachers 
be maintained in order that candidates for teaching voca- 
tional agriculture will not enter other work. The student- 
teacher should utilize his time in getting information and 
in studying methods of presentation, feeling sure that if 
his work is up to a high standard, he will be properly 
located. The recent war has demonstrated the fact that 
many non-essentials can be eliminated in various kinds of 
work, without decreasing efficiency. This is also true in 
teaching agriculture. The war caused a shortage of teach- 
ers and then came the problem which needed immediate 
solution for better prepared teachers trained in a shorter 
space of time. The new system of giving projects in con- 
nection with the school work, as part of the regular instruc- 
tion, is one which the teacher trainers of the future will 
more and more consider. 

The teacher of the future will no longer be considered 
as a specialist in one particular subject only, but he will 
be prepared to offer suggestions in the various fields of 
agriculture. He is also going to be a factor in helping 
young men and women to find their occupation or profes- 
sion, for every pupil who enrolls in the classes in agriculture 
will not become a farmer. Another consideration of the 
future is that the teacher may have a longer tenure of office. 

With better trained teachers more satisfactory methods 
of instruction are sure to follow. More emphasis in the 
future will be given to the following: 



The Future of Agricultural Education 135 

1. A broader preparation for a background. 

2. A better knowledge of the subjects to be taught. 

3. Better methods of presentation. 

The teacher in the future will be one who has an aptitude 
for teaching. He will be one who possesses leadership and 
a strong personality which will inspire young men and 
women to do their best. The agricultural interests in the 
community will soon show the results of efficient teaching. 
More of the young men and women will be trained for the 
work which they will follow later in life. The same inspira- 
tion that causes many more to go to college will cause them 
to return to be worth more to the community in which they 
live. 

Emphasis will be placed upon making real men and women 
rather than trying to do college work in making specialists 
in any particular occupation or profession. With this type 
of trained teachers working in harmony with all the differ- 
ent educational forces for the betterment of all mankind, the 
future of vocational education is assured. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Books 

R. W. Stimson. . . Vocational Agricultural Education by 

Home Projects. 

A. W. Nolan The Teaching of Agriculture. 

A. H. Leake The Means and Methods of Agricultural 

Education. 
G. S. Strayer. . . . A Brief Course in the Teaching Process. 
C. H. McMurry. .Teaching by Projects. 
Mabel Carney .... Country Life and the Country School. 
N. E. A. Reports— 1910 to 1920. 
Faber Cooperative Organizations in Denmark. 

Bulletms, 

Bulletin No. 23. State Board of Education, California. 
" " 121. Project Study Outlines, Department of 

Education, Austin, Texas. 
" " 19. Supervised Home Project Work, Indiana 
State Board of Education. 
Other bulletins giving the state plans for vocational agri- 
culture. 
Bulletins issued by the Federal Board for Vocational Edu- 
cation. 
Bulletin No. 1. Statement of plans and policies. 

" " 3. Information desired in application for 
approval of plans for instruction in 
vocational agriculture. 
" " 6. Information desired in application for 
approval of plans for teacher train- 
ing in vocational agriculture. 
136 



Bibliography 137 

Bulletin No. 10. Manual and note book for supervised 
practice in agriculture. 

*' *' 15. Illustrative material for teaching agri- 
culture in the high school. 

" ** 21. The home project as a phase of voca- 
tional agricultural education. 

(( <c 2>y^ rpj^g training of teachers of vocational 
agriculture. 



IM3EX 



Adam's Act, 21 

Agricultural Reader, 21 

Agricultural science, 25 

Alfalfa outline, 84, 85 

Animal life, methods of approach, 
86 
methods of presenting, 88 
project selected, depends upon, 

98 
study, value of, 88 

Application, purpose of, 58 

Apperceptive basis of teacher, 121 

Aristotle, 15 

Assignment of lesson, 128 

Automobile course, 107 

B 

Benefits from project work, 50 
Blackboard, uses of, 52 
Boston Farm School, 21 
Breeders Gazette, the, 32 



California plan, 36, 37 

California plan, courses quoted, 

39,40 
Canada, 18 
Canneries visited, 80 
Carpentry course, instruction, 105 
Chinese Civil Service, 15 
College, 22 

College course, 125, 126 
Commenius, 16, 17 
Community Center meetings. 111 
Concrete, study of, 105 
Consolidation of rural schools, 113 
Conversational method, 51, 81 
County fair, 112 
Courses, similar 125 
Cultural teaching, 122 



Dairy husbandry outline, 92-94 
Demonstrational method, 104, 105 
Dewey, John, 51 
Disciplinary values, 122 
District fair, the, 112 

E 

Efficiency in teaching, 120 
Elementary work in agriculture, 

123 
Elementary Schools of Denmark, 

116, 117 
Elements of agriculture, 23 
Ellsworth, H. L., 27 
Emphasis in training, 135 
English course, value of, 123, 124 
Essentials in supervision, 49 
European universities, 16 
Evans, Daniel, 21 



Faber, quoted, 114-117 

Fallenberg, 17 

Farm accounting, 124 

Farm adviser, 112 

Farm Bureau Center, 111, 112 

Farm carpentry, 104, 105 

Farm experience, 131 

Farm forging, 106 

Farm machinery, 106 

Farm management outline, 99-103 

Farm management references, 103 

Farm mechanics course, trend of, 
108 

Farm mechanics work, 125 

Farm mechanics, method of pre- 
senting, 109 

Farmers cooperative demonstra- 
tion, 111 

Farmers Institute, 111 



139 



140 



Index 



Federal Board Bulletin, quoted, 31 
Federal reimbursement, 135 
Field trip, 51, 71, 73 

cautions in, 73 

demonstrations, 72 

frequency of, 72 

methods of conducting, 72 

notes, 72 

outlines of, 72 

planning, 72 

reports, 72 

when desirable, 71 
First lessons in agriculture, 19 
First year project, 80, 81 
Fourth year program, 98 
Franklin, Benjamin, 20 
Franke, 17 
Froebel, 18 
Fruit growers, 113 
Fruit outline, 95-97 
Function of school, 121 

G 

Gale, Geo. Washington, 21 
Gardener, Maine, 20 
Gas engine course, 107 
Governor Berkeley, 19 
Grain Growers Association, 113 
Grange, history of, 110, 111 
Graduation requirements, 34 

H 

Habit forming period, 122 

Halle University, 17 

Hartlib, Samuel, 17 

Hatch Act, 28 

Home project, the, 33, 34, 42, 45 

Horse-hoeing husbandry, 17 

Hungary University, 17 



Individual method of instruction, 

41, 48, 81 
Italian school gardens, 16 



Jesuits, 16 
Jethro Tull, IT 
Job analysis, 133 



Kansas Agricultural College, 21, 22 
Kinds of home projects, 48 



King Alfred, 16 

King's College, 20 

King Cyrus, 15 

King Solomon's gardens, 15 

Knox College, 21 



Laboratory material, 52 
Laboratory methods of 

assisting pupils, 75 

conducting, 73-75 

drawing, 74 

notebooks, 75 

writing conclusions, 74 
Lahows, John D., 20 
Lecture method, 51 
Lesser Seminary, 18 
Lesson, assignment of, S^ 
Lessons, kinds of, 54 
Lesson plan, Herbartian, 55 
Lesson plan steps, application, 58 

comparison, 57 

generalization, 57 

preparation, 55 

presentation, 56 
Lesson plans, types of, 58-70 

dairy cattle, 65-66 

egg production, 63-64 

field crops, 60-61 

irrigation, 67-68 

marketing fruit, 66-67 

poultry feeding, 61-63 

vegetable growing, 58-59 

wool production, 69-70 
Lesson review, 54 
Lesson summary, 54 

M 

Managing problems, 98 

Maryland Agricultural College, 22 

Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 
lege, 30 

Massachusetts plan, 38 

Massachusetts plan, quoted, 47 

Mathematics course, 124 

McClure, William, 21 

Mechanical drawing, 104 

Methods of Danish teaching, 118 

Michigan State Agricultural Col- 
lege, 21 

Mill's Public School Agricnlture, 
19 

Milton, John, 17 

Morrill Land Grant Act, quoted, 
27 



Index 



141 



MorrUl Land Grant Act Second, 
quoted, 28 

N 

National Society of Agriculture, 

18 
Nature study, 23, 123 
Nebraska course, quoted, 38, 39 
Nebraska plan, 37 
New Harmony, 21 
New York State College, 22 

O 

Oneida, 21 
Ontario, 19 
Outlines in, alfalfa, 84-85 

dairy husbandry, 92-94 

farm management, 99-103 

fruit industry, 95-97 

plant life, 82-85 



Paris botanical gardens, 16 
Patent Office, 27 
Persian school gardens, 15 
Pestalozzi, 18, 21 
Pictures, use of, 52 
Placement of teachers, 134 
Plant life, course in, 77-82 

deciding upon a project, 76 

methods of approach, 77 

outline, 82-85 

references, 84 

related to project, 78 
Plato, 15, 16 
Practice teaching, 127 
Preparation, two problems in, 55 
Presentation, examples in, 56 
Project, a finding course, 45 

baby chicks, 48 

bees, 48 

contract, 43 

deals with, 44 

deciding upon kinds, 46 

defined, 31 

essentials of, 44 

fourth year, 49 

idea, 43 

individual method of instruction, 
48 

kinds of, 43 

meaning of, 43 

money value, 44 

production, 48, 49 



Project, records, 44 

size of, 43 

story of, 44 

too large, 46, 47 

uniform, 48 
Proper methods, 133, 134 
Public school agriculture, 19 

Q 

Questions, essentials of, 53 
thought provoking, 54 
types of, 128 

R 

Reference books, 32 
References, alfalfa, 60 

dairy cattle, 65 

farm management, 103 

irrigation, 68 

marketing fruit, 66 

plant life, 84 

poultry, 63, 90 

vegetable gardening, 58 

wool production, 69 
Reimbursement for teachers, 37 
Rousseau, 17 

Royal College of Denmark, the, 18 
Rural church. 113, 114 
Ryerson, 19 



S 



Salzman, 17 

School farm, S5 

Seasonal sequence, 40 

Secondary agriculturcj 23 

Selecting animal husbandry proj- 
ects, 86 

Size of student-teacher's projects, 
130, 131 

Smith, Hoke, 26 

Smith-Hughes Bill, 30-32, 35 

Smith-Lever Act, quoted, 29 

Smith-Sears Act, quoted, 29 

Smith, Wilham, 19 

Snedden, Dr. David, 42 

Snyder, Dr. E. R., 36 

Special agricultural schools, 123 

Study of flowers, 79 

Study of leaves, 79 

Stimson, Dr. R. W., 19, 42 

Strayer, G. D., quoter" 54 55, &% 
57,58 



14S 



Index 



Supervised practice in agriculture, 

31 
Supervising the project, 45, 46 
Systems on the farm, 32 



Teacher's greatest needs, 81 

habits, 128 

personal qualifications, 127 

place in the community, 114 

preparation, 126, 127 

self inventory, 128, 129 
Thaer, 18 
Toronto, 19 

Training of teachers, 36 
Training schools, future of, 133 
Traveling expenses, 50 
TuU, Jethro, 17 

Types of secondary school agricul- 
ture, 33 



U 

United States Bureau of Educa- 
tion, 24 
University Farm School, Davis, 130 
University of Halle, 17 
University of Pennsylvania, 19 
Use of illustrations, 123 



Value of, composition, 124 
high school course, 125 
history, 124 
music, 124 
sanitation, 124 
vocational agriculture, 36 

W 

Warren, G. F., 23 
Waste eliminates, 122 
Wilson, quoted, 119 
Written contract, 132 



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